Former President Goodluck Jonathan Says Chibok Girls Abduction Still Haunts His Legacy
Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has described the 2014 abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls as a lasting and painful scar on his time in office. Jonathan spoke on Friday at the public presentation of SCARS: Nigeria’s Journey and the Boko Haram Conundrum, a memoir by retired Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor. He praised Irabor, calling him “a soldier who stood for truth and never played politics with security.” Reflecting on the Chibok tragedy, Jonathan said, “The title of this book is quite interesting. One of the major scars on my government is the Chibok Girls. As Bishop Kukah said, no plastic or cosmetic surgeon can remove it. It is a scar I will die with.” The abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Borno State triggered global outrage and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. While some girls escaped or were rescued, more than 80 are still missing. Jonathan recounted that Boko Haram began in 2009 while he was Vice President under Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and grew during his presidency. “I battled Boko Haram for five years as President. I thought Buhari would wipe them out quickly, but they remain,” he said. He stressed that the insurgency is far more complex than commonly perceived and urged Nigeria to rethink its strategies to effectively tackle the threat.