Hakeem Baba Ahmed, a former presidential aide, has stated that when the 276 Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, then-President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife did not believe the incident was real at first. He said Jonathan thought it was a political scheme meant to embarrass his government.
In an interview with TVC, Ahmed said some of the girls have been rescued over the years, but many are still unaccounted for. He said over 80 of the Chibok girls are still missing, and no one knows where they are.
In Ahmed’s words: “It was not blackmail, it was real. He (Jonathan) didn’t believe it, his wife didn’t believe it. Today as we speak more than 80 Chibok girls are still missing, nobody knows where they are. Let us not make light of this. The Chibok girls were kidnapped, they were taken away from their families. Some were retrieved, some we don’t know where they are. There was no blackmail, Boko Haram kidnapped girls in Chibok town, they were waiting to sit for exams when they were taken away so let us not kid with this”.
