Yakasai: it’s risky for Jonathan to visit Chibok

Yakasai: it’s risky for Jonathan to visit Chibok

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An elder statesman and chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, at the weekend, defended President Goodluck Jonathan for not visiting Chibok after over 200 school girls were abducted by insurgents.

Yakasai argued that it was too risky for Jonathan to visit the town at the time because of insecurity.

The abduction led to uproar worldwide with civil right groups and international community calling on the Federal Government to rescue the girls from their abductors.

Despite the call, Jonathan refused to visit the school where the girls were kidnapped, leading to criticism of his administration.

But Yakasai, in a popular FRCN Radio Hausa Programme: “Hannu da Yawa,” monitored in Kaduna, said soldiers were the right people to be sent to the town and not the President.

He said: “Why I think the President’s decision not to visit the area is not bad, it’s because we were all aware of the deteriorated level of insecurity in that part of the country.

“We all know it’s too risky for the President to visit Chibok at that time.

The President is not a soldier; soldiers are the people that should be sent there.

“If I was the President and such an incident occur, the right thing for me to do was to send soldiers. And to be frank, our soldiers are doing their best. We are hearing on radio and reading in newspapers how soldiers were being killed, and yet they are doing their best.

“I don’t know what is happening, the Minister of Defence, Ali Gusau, is a northerner and so also the National Security Adviser, Inspector General of Police and Chief of Defence Staff.

“If all these people couldn’t address the problem, how could it be easy for the President to do it?

“Don’t forget the suicide bombers are now experts. So, what will happen if they ambush the President and something bad happens to him? Do you think his people will accept that? Except if people want the country to return to Niger Delta militants’ era,” he said.

On the issue of Boko Haram, Yakasai said to end the crisis, serious measures must be taken.

His words: “Could you imagine today we are talking of female suicide bombers when we all know in history that females are known to be shy and peace-loving.

But today, a girl of age 13 was caught with bombs and some others had detonated their bombs, which killed many people in Kano.”