Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said he cannot be held responsible for the abduction of the 276 schoolgirls abducted by the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

He said this in an interview with BBC, saying that Nigerians should have shown concern after the April 14, 2014, abduction and not gone ahead to start organising protests even outside the country – or even politicise the whole issue.

“Immediately the Chibok issue came up, we expected Nigerians to be concerned. ‘How do we get these girls out’? Within a couple of days, we saw people going to the US with Bring Back Our Girls placards. How? Why? And of course, Mrs Obama received one of those placards.

“I cannot take responsibility for the abduction. I don’t control Boko Haram. They are criminals. But as a president, of course, you know it is not the president that goes to the fields. You have security and intelligence officers that do the work.

“Let me admit that yes, maybe they do their best, but their best was not good enough for us to recover the girls.

“That does not mean that I am trying to remove myself from any blame. Yes I may not be blamed for the action, but I could be blamed that my security and intelligence systems were not strong enough to be able to recover the girls,” Jonathan said.

“I cannot take responsibility for the abduction. I don’t control Boko Haram.”

Former president of Nigeria @GEJonathan, talks frankly about @BarackObama & the Chibok Girls. pic.twitter.com/u8cVO8Y050

— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) December 1, 2018

Omoleye Omoruyi

Omoleye Omoruyi… an apprentice web/game developer, novelist, sensitive to happenings in the world. Meet him @Lord_rickie on Twitter/Instagram