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Tag: Goodluck Jonathan

  • Jonathan paying lip service to free, fair elections, says APC

    Jonathan paying lip service to free, fair elections, says APC

    President Goodluck Jonathan should match with action his talk on free and fair elections, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said.

    The opposition party also said all the assurances so far given by the President have not translated into credible elections.

    In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC urged the President to ensure that next year’s elections are not marred by the intimidation and harassment of opposition party members and supporters. There should also not be deliberate disenfranchisement of voters, which hallmarked the Anambra and Ekiti governorship elections, among others, the party added.

    ‘’On the same day the President’s latest assurances of a free, fair, credible and transparent elections in 2015 were being reported, agents of the Jonathan-led federal government were ransacking the offices of a company hired to carry out an opinion poll for Osun State ahead of the August 9 gubernatorial election.

    ‘’If the opposition can no longer freely carry out opinion polls, if the companies hired to carry out such polls are harassed and intimidated by SSS officials as they did to tnsrms, the offices of which were searched for six hours, after which top officials of the firm were dragged to the SSS offices in Shangisha and computers carted away, then, how can any President convince anyone that free and fair elections can be held under his watch?

    ‘’If the Ngozi Okonjo Iweala-linked NOI polling firm has never been harassed for its choreographed opinion polls that favour the Jonathan Administration, why should other firms be subjected to the kind of Gestapo- tactics that tnsrms was exposed to? This is why we are asking President Jonathan to walk the talk,’’ the APC said.

    The party said the foundation was being laid to “rig at source” next month’s governorship election in Osun at source, claiming INEC had been frustrating attempts by APC members to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards. The PDP, it alleged, continued to boast that it would use the military to illegally shut down Osun State and bully the opposition as it did in Ekiti.

    It also wondered whether INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega properly weighed the statement he made, in which he tried to justify the deployment of troops in Ekiti for the election on the basis that they helped to ensure a violence-free exercise.

    ‘’Jega should be asked to explain why troops sent to provide security for the Ekiti election were harassing and intimidating only the opposition? Why were they arresting only opposition members? Is that also part of providing security for an election? If soldiers had only provided non-intrusive security for the election, perhaps no one would have complained. But where they turned themselves into the enforcement arm of the ruling party, everyone, including INEC, should be concerned,’’ the APC said.

    The party urged President Jonathan to refrain from deploying the military for election purposes and read the riot act to his cabinet members, such as Musiliu Obanikoro and Abduljelili Adesiyan, and party officials who specialise in electoral malfeasance, and elections will start becoming free, fair, credible and transparent to such an extent that the world would notice.

    ‘’Saying one thing and doing the opposite, Mr. President, will not translate to credible elections. The world is watching,’’ it said.

    As a starting point, the APC urged the President, if indeed he is committed to free and fair elections, to launch an inquiry into why the offices of the firm carrying out an opinion poll for Osun State were invaded and to tell Nigerians whether the firm would have been harassed if it had been hired by the PDP or its candidate for the August 9 election.

  • Buhari: Jonathan praises the Lord!

    President Goodluck Jonathan praises the Lord — and his abiding good luck — that the assassination attempt on Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, former military head of state and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, did not succeed.

    He also praised Allah — and also his abiding good luck — that the second bomb attack on Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, the Islamic cleric targeted during the second bomb attack in Kaduna, did not also die.

    But what of Bauchi’s luckless followers and innocent Nigerians that perished in the dastardly attack?  Well, Presido would thank God for small mercies — it could have been worse, obviously!

    And what would the Commander-in-Chief have said on the Zaria bloodbath?

    There, according to news reports, Nigerian Shi’ite leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaki, lost no fewer  than three sons (two allegedly shot dead in cold blood in army detention) and another receiving treatment for gunshot wounds, besides nine others reportedly killed — not by the notorious Boko Haram, but by Nigerian Army troops on patrol?  That, thank Allah, the tally was not more than that?

    And, from the doomed Zakzaki sons, some frightful déjà vu: do you not recall that Boko Haram morphed from the ragtag militants on Okada to the fearsome terror machine of today, after rogue policemen killed, in cold blood and in police detention, its leader, Mohammed Yusuf, after soldiers had handed him over to the police?

    It is annoyingly predictable.  Each time Nigerians under his charge are mown down by malevolent forces either in terror cells or criminals in Nigerian security forces uniform, this president wrings his hands like a child lost on a vast island; and laments to his heart’s content.

    In other words, the commander-in-chief, whom God has given the rare privilege to chiefly command the security forces, to secure luckless Nigerians, has condemned himself to condemning felons his armada of forces should have checkmated before wreaking any havoc, just like another helpless observer, as millions of Nigerians indeed are, in this giant and bloody play of fatal incompetence.

    Jonathan thanks God Buhari and Bauchi didn’t fall to the assassins’ bombs. He serenaded Nigerians with what they already knew: that Nigerians would have been on fire if the pair — or even one of them — had fallen.  Seriously?  Is that what a president and commander-in-chief is made of?

    But as Presido gives thanks to God — and indeed, He is always worthy of thanks — would Allah also be thanking him for grand failure to utilise the resources, with which He has blessed our country in the armed forces, but which the C-in-C has always fallen short to put to use, to protect our people?

    But perhaps we should abandon the republican constitution and embrace a theocracy!  That way, the Jonathan presidential chambers — sorry, theocratic conclave — would have little to do with the armed forces and their gruff temper.

    Rather, he would deal more with prayer warriors, hustling God to do for them what He had already given them power to do, and spewing forth a lot of thanksgiving to warm their way into the divine heart of the Almighty!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Fed Govt insincere about Boko Haram’

    ‘Fed Govt insincere about Boko Haram’

    The Chief Imam of Lagos, Sheikh Garuba Akinola Ibrahim, has accused the Federal Government of insincerity in its fight against Boko Haram.

    The Islamic scholar wondered how the government became incapable of stopping the evil activities of the insurgents as they continued to kill and destroy property worth millions of naira.

    He urged President Goodluck Jonathan to end insurgency before it tears the country apart.

    Ibrahim spoke yesterday at Eid-el-Fitri prayer at the Lagos Central Mosque in Idumota, Lagos Island.

    The Muslim cleric noted that the inability of the Federal Government to rescue the over 200 abducted Chibok schoolgirls after over 100 days was embarrassing.

    According to him, the abduction saga shows the incompetency of the Federal Government.

    He said: “If Boko Haram is kidnapping children of the poor today, the insurgents could abduct those of the wealthy tomorrow. A situation whereby girls are missing for over 100 days leaves much to be desired in the political class.”

    Ibrahim urged Nigerians, especially the politicians, to shun corruption.

    He said: “We all have roles to play in returning sanity to the polity. Politicians tell lies a lot. They are not sincere with the masses. They should not forget that no matter how long they stay in office, they will vacate their positions one day. Therefore, they should be just to the masses.”

    The President of Fatima Charity Foundation (FCF), Hajia Bintu-Fatimah Tinubu, reiterated the need for Muslims to continue with the fear of Allah, which they exhibited throughout the Ramadan period.

    Hajia Tinubu, who is also the Iyalode of Lagos, urged Muslims to continue to pray for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls.

    “Our dear country,” she said, “is in dire need of prayers. There cannot be a more appropriate time for such prayers than when Muslims are celebrating the completion of 29 days of total devotion to Allah.”

    The women’s leader underscored “the need for cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslims at this time of pressing security challenges, which have invariably continued to threaten political stability, economic prosperity and even religious consciousness in the country”.

    Haija Tinubu advised Nigerians, regardless of their religious persuasions or tribal affiliations, to shun any act of violence.

    The President of the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni (UMA) Alhaji Lere Alimi said Muslims need to continue with the kindness and generosity they showed fellow beings during the Ramadan fast.

    Alimi condemned the recurring bombings across the country.

    He noted that Nigerians need to be their brother’s keeper and become more security-conscious.

    Alimi said: “This is the time to keep on with the good deeds even though Ramadan has come to an end. It is clear that our nation needs a lot of prayers to survive the current security challenges.”

    The alumni leader urged security agencies to become more proactive by using intelligence gatherings to save the nation from recurring attacks on innocent people.

    He urged Nigerians to give security agencies useful information on activities of insurgents.

     

  • UK-based professionals urge transparency

    UK-based professionals urge transparency

    A GROUP of Nigerian professionals in the United Kingdom (UK), the Progressives Solidarity Forum (PSF), has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to “allow democratic tenets to reign supreme in the August 9 election.”

    The Global Coordinator of the group, Dr. Ibrahim Emokpaire and its Director, Media UK Chapter, Onowu Amaechi Nwaenie, condemned the handling of the country’s affairs by the Federal Government.

    The group said this has reduced the country to a laughing stock both at home and in the international community.

    The PSF warned against “arbitrary and reckless use of the federal might and any undemocratic antics that could undermine the people of Osun State from freely exercising their rights to peaceful election.”

    It advised the people not to “allow anyone regardless of might, to rob them of the enviable developments and visionary leadership they currently enjoy under the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

    “There is no doubt that the achievement of the present administration in the state of Osun has not only received international recognition, but also remains unparalleled in the history of the state.

    “A free and fair conduct of the August 9 election will be a very good test of our democracy. The covering flesh of modern democracy is a vibrant opposition that can assiduously work differently to deliver a good dividend and improve the life of the people,” it said.

    The group condemned a situation whereby the PDP and its leaders “are hell-bent in crippling opposition by all means.”

    It added:  “The events of the past months have confirmed beyond any doubt that the president in his dire efforts to cling to power is politicising all the major problems confronting our country and her people.”

    It condemned the deployment of more than 36,000 security personnel during Ekiti State governorship election, adding that “the election confirmed the fear that is very typical of an unpopular government and a wanton waste of public resources while our people in the Northeast die on a regular basis without adequate government protection.”

    It advised that elections should be based “on character, credibility and performance through practical evidences and assessment by the electorate.”

  • Jonathan and visiting Chibok parents

    Jonathan and visiting Chibok parents

    ABOUT 100 days after Boko Haram abducted hundreds of girls from their school in Chibok, Borno State, 57 of the girls who escaped from the militant sect’s captivity and about 119 of their parents finally met President Goodluck Jonathan last Tuesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The president had been expected to meet with some of the distraught parents in Chibok days after the abductions. But citing security concerns, he failed to make the trip. Instead, many months after, he downplays the irony of inviting the grieving parents to Abuja to receive commiseration. As one of the parents said mournfully before the trip, though they would honour the president’s invitation, partly because they did not have a choice, tradition was not lost on them that those who grieve normally receive visitors, not the other way round.

    Chibok is a grieving town. About 11 of the grief-stricken parents have so far died: seven from Boko Haram’s continuing attacks, and four out of despair and brokenheartedness. Respectful of authority as always and solemn to the bargain, parents who attended the meeting tearfully gave account of the pains and sorrow they have had to endure. The president, reports indicated, was full of empathy, different from the early days of the abduction when, with his wife, he didn’t seem sure a tragedy of that monumental proportion had befallen that forlorn town. Receiving the sorrowing parents of the Chibok girls at the convenience of his palatial villa may be paradoxical, and indeed even mocking and belittling of the majesty and splendour of the Nigerian presidency, but at least the president has finally discharged an obligation that tugged brutally on his elastic conscience since Boko Haram committed that notable heresy.

    Let us for now forget that it took Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girls’ education campaigner, to goad President Jonathan into acting a little presidential. But by saying he would visit Chibok after the girls had been freed quite horrifyingly shows the president’s abject lack of judgement and his deeply mortifying insensitivity. The Chibok parents braved the odds to honour his belated invitation. But President Jonathan waits for the girls to be rescued before his own courage will manifest for all to see, perhaps after the Boko Haram war has been won. The world must be shocked and astounded by President Jonathan’s logic.

  • Jonathan to Nigerians: Don’t despair over terrorists attacks

    Jonathan to Nigerians: Don’t despair over terrorists attacks

    PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged Nigerians to remain strong and resolute in defence of freedom, unity, law and order, peace, security and progress of the nation.

    He made the call in a message to the nation on the 2014 Eid-el-Fitri celebration.

    Stressing that some parts of the country witnessed terrorists attacks during the month of Ramadan, he hoped that the Ramadan’s spiritual lessons and the Holy Prophet’s  teachings of piety, love, justice, fairness, equity, peaceful co-existence, tolerance, honesty and dedication to duty will remain with Nigerians towards greater benefit and glory for the nation.

    He said: “I felicitate with all Nigerians, especially our Muslim brothers and sisters on the auspicious occasion of this year’s Eid-el-Fitri celebrations.

    “I congratulate all of our countrymen and women who have successfully undertaken the purifying Ramadan fast.

    “May the lessons and blessings of the holy month also permeate into us all and positively influence our attitudes towards our fellow countrymen and women, irrespective of their religion or places of origin and promote greater commitment to the peace, unity and stability of the nation.”

    The president added:”Although the observance of the Holy Month was sadly tainted in parts of the country with the continuing atrocities of extremists and terrorists in our midst, I urge all patriotic Nigerians to remain strong and resolute indefence of freedom, unity, law and order, peace, security and progress of the nation.

    “I feel the pains and anguish of all our compatriots who have experienced the harrowing impact of terrorism unleashed on them by brainwashed and misguided agents of evil and disunity, but we must never throw up our hands in helplessness and despair as the terrorists and purveyors of anarchy want.”

    The president also urged all Nigerians to continue to show solidarity with security agencies and give them the full support they require to succeed against terror.

    He said: “I assure all Nigerians, once again, that we are totally committed to winning that war, putting the scourge of terrorism and insecurity rapidly behind us and giving the fullest possible attention to the urgent task of improving the living conditions of our people in all parts of the country.

    “We cannot and will not be deterred from our goal of positively transforming our nation into a strong, united, progressive, stable, secure and prosperous nation in which all citizens will live in peace in spite of our immense diversities.”

     

  • Impeachment made vexatiously simple

    Impeachment made vexatiously simple

    NIGERIA is seething with impeachment plots. Designed by framers of the 1999 constitution as an unusual tool for changing malfeasant governments, impeachment was to be deployed sparingly in the rarest of situations only when elected officials engaged in gross subversion of constitutional provisions. But as recent events in many parts of the country show, impeachment has become a fashionable tool for whimsical overthrow of governments in furtherance of private political goals. Adamawa State broke the mould when in a matter of days it overthrew Governor Murtala Nyako, a fiery critic of the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, and leading exponent of the All Progressives Congress (APC) style of liberation and radical theology.

    It did not matter that he was swiftly impeached mostly for offences allegedly committed during his days as a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and governor, nor did it matter that the plot against him was so offensively open that it revealed the private political interests of frontline Adamawa political juggernauts. Nor, still, did it matter that the impeachment was carried out with the annoying accompaniment of a legislative coup, one that involved tricking the simple-minded and ambitious deputy governor, Bala Ngilari, to resign, and the enthronement of the triumphant Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Umaru Fintiri. What mattered was that, at least for now, Governor Nyako was gone, and the state’s leading political lights were rid of his irreverence, provocation and independence.

    The curtain was not yet drawn on the Adamawa spectacle before Nasarawa State began its own political burlesque. Last week, under heavy security, 20 of the state’s 24 legislators brusquely decided to impeach Governor Tanko Al-Makura for offences the lawmakers had to scrounge around to adumbrate. The state’s electorate had spontaneously protested the decision, and poured into the streets to register their disgust against what seemed to them an ill-considered and tedious plot. The state’s opinion leaders and traditional chiefs added their voices to the people’s dismay and remonstrated with the lawmakers to let sleeping dogs lie. But even after some lawmakers were reported to have backed out of the plot, the adamant legislators relocated to Abuja where they proceeded to engineer a stalemate and a sinister subversion of the constitution.

    It is not certain what the outcome of the political struggle in Nasarawa would be. But in faraway Ebonyi, the legislators simply damned civility and common sense and proceeded to impeach their Speaker, Chukwuma Nwazunku, with the kind of casualness that reminded many analysts of the inglorious beginnings of the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency. Then, as if an evil spirit had possessed the land, even the beleaguered state of Borno was last week distracted from its ant-terror campaign by a most noisome rumour of impeachment allegedly inspired by the Majority Leader of the State House of Assembly, Idrissa Jidda. Alhaji Jidda was reported to be the anchor of a change of government drive plotted by the newly recanted former governor of the state, Ali Modu Sheriff, who was until about two or three weeks ago a member of the APC to which he defected from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Former Governor Sheriff was said to be eager to get the Governors of Borno and Yobe impeached for no other reason than that he had joined the PDP and needed the two states to shore up both his political base and President Jonathan’s second term bid.

    Not to be outdone, Enugu State, under the uninspiring and irritable Governor Sullivan Chime, felt the hideous need to enact a different perspective to the impeachment drama going on in the country. The state legislature decided to serve the deputy governor, Sunday Onyebuchi, with impeachment notice for reasons that included the comical offence of disrespecting the governor. He is unlikely to survive the conspiracy between the executive and the legislature, who both have constituted themselves into implacable Magdeburg hemispheres.

    Before next year’s general elections, a few more elected officials could still bite the dust. Many of them, it appears, will be unhorsed for wholly capricious reasons, reasons alien to the constitution, the law, simple logic and rudimentary discipline. Similar indiscipline pervaded the Obasanjo years, and it was thought that as year chases year, somehow the nation would become more sophisticated, better organised, disciplined and progressive. Alas, we told ourselves an infernal lie.

  • Jonathan, Sanusi meet in Aso Rock

    Jonathan, Sanusi meet in Aso Rock

    President Goodluck Jonathan met with the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

    The meeting was the first since Sanusi became the Emir of Kano.

    Sanusi was one of the Northern traditional rulers, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, who joined Jonathan in the breaking of Ramadan fast.

    The former CBN governor led others in a special prayer for peace during the short event held at the President’s residence.

    The President later went round to shake hands with all the traditional rulers in attendance, including Sanusi.

    Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers at the occasion, the Sultan condemned the twin bomb blasts that rocked Kaduna State on Wednesday and other terrorists attacks in the country.

    Stressing that the terrorists and their sponsors have no Islamic agenda, he declared that are enemies of humanity.

    The Sultan urged the President to find time in the future to meet with them so as to discuss issues of national importance.

    President Jonathan, at the occasion, immediately granted the Sultan’s request.

    Jonathan, in turn, urged the traditional rulers to work with his administration in order to end insurgency in the country.

    He noted that the situation could have been worse if not for prayers. He therefore called for more prayers in that direction as he expressed confidence that Nigeria will overcome the challenges.

    “It could have been worse than this if not for prayers. We will surely get over it. We are doing our best to ensure we end this situation and with the support of Nigerians, we shall surely overcome,” he stated.

  • ‘LP, PDP ‘ll work for Jonathan in Ogun’

    ‘LP, PDP ‘ll work for Jonathan in Ogun’

    Former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel yesterday said that the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will work together to actualise the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan in the next year’s election.

    Daniel, an LP chieftain, explained that the President has performed, adding that the two parties will drum support for his continuity in office.

    The President has not unfolded his second term ambition. But, some individuals and groups have asked him to declare his interest, assuring him of support.

    Daniel, who spoke with reporters in Lagos, said power shift is also a priority in Ogun State.

    However, a section of the party has objected to Daniel’s support for the President from outside, urging him to come back to the PDP, which he deserted during the 2011 elections.

    Daniel said: “We need a better government in Ogun. If that means working with President Jonathan, PDP and LP, it does not matter. My support for President Jonathan is not surprising. I led his campaign in the Southwest in 2011.

    “I am working for him becausse I have looked at the terrain. For now, within the framework of contemporary challenges, he is better supported to have a second term. If there is another reason I should not support him, let them say it and we debate it.”

    The former governor added: “We need to maintain the equillibrum. Let President Jonathan have a second term and we will work for who will succeed him later. This country will not make progress, until we appreciate our responsibilities in governance. There is the need for consistency.”

    Daniel reflected on his defection from the PDP to the LP, saying that it was the best option at the time. He described the LP as a child of circumstances, stressing that it became the abode of PDP chieftains who were left in the cold, ahead of the 2011 polls.

    He stressed: “God helped me to build the PDP in Ogun State. My movement to other parties was not due to personal ambition. 40 PDP members, who wanted to contest elections as governor, deputy governor, and National Asembly and House of Assembly contenders, were left in the cold.

    “They said I should come and take the senatorial ticket. I said no. I could not abandon them. They had to go to the PPN. I stayed in the PDP. Later, I started the reconciliation in the PDP.”

    Daniel spoke on his ordeals in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), warning that a dangerous precedent has been established. The former governor blamed the media for browing issues out of proportion, adding that reporters have not been fair to him. He said, henceforth, successive administrations may face the same fire, after bowing out of office.

    He added: “There is a precedent in Ogun State. Therefore, if I have been arraigned in the court, successive governors will be arraigned. Some day, the cost of those roads will be explained.”

    Daniel alleged that there is capital flight in Ogun State because contractors are hired from outside by Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

    He said his successor had embarked on road expansion, instead of constructing new roads.

    Describing Amosun as a bold and courageous politician, Daniel said that “he does not apply that in the right direction”.

    He added: “he has expanded roads than I did, but the cost is another matter.”

    Daniel refuted the allegation of violence, saying that he is a man of peace.

     

     

  • Boko Haram: 11 Chibok schoolgirls’ parents dead

    Boko Haram: 11 Chibok schoolgirls’ parents dead

    Tears as returnee-pupils recount ordeal at meeting with Jonathan

    MONTHS of controversy over the need for President Goodluck Jonathan to meet the parents of the abducted Chibok girls ended yesterday – somehow.

    Dr. Jonathan met the distraught parents, not in the troubled Borno State town but in the easy Presidential Villa in Abuja where the grief caused by the April 15 incident was brought home.

    No fewer than 11 of the parents of the more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls will never see their daughters again.

    Since the mass abduction of the schoolgirls by Boko Haram Islamic extremists three months ago, at least 11 of their parents have died and their hometown, Chibok, is under siege from the militants, residents report.

    Seven fathers of kidnapped girls were among 51 bodies brought to Chibok hospital after an attack on the nearby village of Kautakari this month, said a health worker who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals by the extremists.

    At least four more parents have died of heart failure, high blood pressure and other illnesses that the community blames on trauma due to the mass abduction 100 days ago, said community leader Pogu Bitrus, who provided their names.

    “One father of two of the girls kidnapped just went into a kind of coma and kept repeating the names of his daughters, until life left him,” said Bitrus.

    Chibok is cut off because of frequent attacks on the roads that are studded with burned out vehicles. Commercial flights no longer go into the troubled area and the government has halted charter flights.

    Through numerous phone calls to Chibok and the surrounding area, The Associated Press has gathered information about the situation in the town where the students were kidnapped from their school.

    More danger is on the horizon.

    Boko Haram is closing in on Chibok, attacking villages ever closer to the town. Villagers who survive the assaults are swarming into the town, swelling its population and straining resources. A food crisis looms, along with shortages of money and fuel, said community leader Bitrus.

    On the bright side, some of the young women who escaped are recovering, said a health worker, who insisted on anonymity because he feared reprisals from Boko Haram. Girls who had first refused to discuss their experience, now are talking about it and taking part in therapeutic singing and drawing — a few drew homes, some painted flowers and one young woman drew a picture of a soldier with a gun last week.

    Girls who said they would never go back to school now are thinking about how to continue their education, he said.

    Counselling is being offered to families of those abducted and to some of the 57 students who managed to escape in the first few days, said the health worker. He is among 36 newly trained in grief and rape counselling, under a programme funded by USAID.

    All the escapees remain deeply concerned about their schoolmates who did not get away.

    A presidential committee investigating the kidnappings said 219 girls still are missing. But the community says there are more because some parents refused to give the committee their daughters’ names, fearing the stigma involved.

    Boko Haram filmed a video in which they threatened to sell the students into slavery and as child brides. It also showed a couple of the girls describing their “conversion” from Christianity to Islam.

    At least two have died of snake bites, a mediator who was liaising with Boko Haram told AP two months ago. At that time he said at least 20 of the girls were ill — not surprising, given that they are probably being held in an area infested with malarial mosquitoes, poisonous snakes and spiders, and relying on unclean water from rivers.

    Most of the schoolgirls are still believed to be held in the Sambisa Forest — a wildlife reserve that includes almost impenetrably thick jungle as well as more open savannah. The forest borders on sand dunes marking the edge of the Sahara Desert. Sightings of the girls and their captors have been reported in neighbouring Cameroon and Chad.

    In Chibok, the town’s population is under stress.

    “There are families that are putting up four and five other families,” local leader Bitrus said, adding that food stocks are depleted. Livestock has been looted by Boko Haram so villagers are arriving empty handed. Worst of all, no one is planting though it is the rainy season, he said.

    “There is a famine looming,” he warned.

    Chibok and nearby villages are targets because they are enclaves of staunch Christians in predominantly Muslim North.

    The number of soldiers guarding Chibok has increased from 15 to about 200 since the kidnapping but they have done little to increase security in Chibok, said Bitrus. The soldiers often refuse to deploy to villages under attack though there is advance warning 90 per cent of the time, he said.

    Last month the extremists took control and raised their black flags over two villages within 30 kilometres (18 miles) of Chibok. Last week they ordered residents of another village just 16 kilometres (10 miles) away to clear out, Bitrus said. Every village in the neighbouring Damboa area has been attacked and sacked, and all the villages bordering Cameroon have been burned and are deserted, Bitrus said, quoting residents who fled.

    The attacks continue despite the fact the military placed the area under a state of emergency in May 2013.

    Residents feel so abandoned that they appealed this month for the United Nations to send troops to protect them. The U.N. has repeatedly urged Nigeria’s government to live up to its international responsibility to protect citizens.

    President Goodluck Jonathan insists his government and military are doing everything possible to ensure the girls’ release. The Defence Ministry says it knows where they are but fears any military campaign could lead to their deaths.

    Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in a new video released this week repeated his demands that Jonathan release detained extremists in exchange for the girls — an offer Jonathan has so far refused.

    After three months, few Chibok residents believe all the schoolgirls will ever return home.