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| Jonathan |
President
Goodluck Jonathan yesterday revealed that the masterminds of the two deadly
bomb blasts that rocked Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory have
been arrested and are currently helping the security agencies in their efforts
to unmask their financiers.
SHOWBIZPLUSng
learnt that Jonathan spoke while fielding questions from journalists at the end
of the 24th World Economic Forum for Africa, WEFA, held in Abuja which ended
yesterday.
He also said
that the Federal Government had earmarked $10 million as matching grant to the
efforts by the international community to rescue the 230 abducted female
students of the Government Girls Secondary School, GGSS, Chibok in Borno State.
Jonathan
said he had declared a total war on Boko Haram ‘’terror group’’ to rout it out
of existence in the country, warning that anybody thinking that the spate of
bombings and other devastation activities by the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria
would force his administration to bend over forward and negotiate power with
the sect or their sponsors should rather have a re-think as such a situation
would not arise.
He however,
reiterated that the successful hosting of the WEFA in Abuja in spite of threats
by the insurgents was a clear demonstration that the days of Boko Haram were
numbered as they will soon be smoked out with the help of the international
community and made to face the consequences of their evil deeds.
”Boko Haram
is a terror group and as journalists you should know the meaning of terror.
Before the 9/11 no body in the US or UK imagined the dimension of terrorists in
the world. You can not be too sure of what ideology that drives their leaning.
Sometimes, it is from the religious sentiments… but we need to combine so many
factors to underscore their driving spirit . But I want to advice that the
terrorists should also know that they don’t do certain things and get away with
it because most of these activities are criminal offenses and they should know
that when they are caught, they would pay dearly for it. ‘’For instance, I can
tell you that the masterminds of the last Nyanya bomb blast have been arrested
and would face the long arm of the law.
”I want to
assure also that sooner than later, the abducted Chibok school girls would also
be rescued with the help of the global community and we will use remote sensing
technology to smoke them out to face the consequences,” Jonathan added.
Also, the US
Marines currently in Nigeria to help the government combat Boko Haram
terrorists have made their first arrests taking two male suspects into custody
after they were found in possession of arms and ammunition during a targeted
search.
The two
suspected Boko Haram members were arrested at Anyibe in Logo Local Government
Area of Benue State. According to the Director of Defence Information, DDI,
Major General Chris Olukolade, the duo, including a teenager and an elderly
man, were arrested during a cordon-and-search operation and found to be in
possession of firearms.
Weapons
found in their possession included two rifles, three locally fabricated pistols
and 61 rounds of special ammunition.
Earlier, at
a separate briefing by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minster of
Finance, Dr.( Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala and former British Prime Minister, Mr.
Gordon Brown among other WEF Officials, had expressed the desire of both the
Nigerian government and the international community to continue with the
agitation of the Bring back the Chibok Girls campaign. Brown described the
adoption of the school girls as ‘’disgusting and devilish’’ but assured that
the international community would not stand by and watch the senseless action
by Boko Haram to scuttle the educational desire of innocent girls. He further
said that the global community was already mobilizing million of dollars to
combat the menace. ”There is nothing going to stand between the Nigerian
children from going to school. There will be multi- million pounds from the
international community to ensure that every boy and girl has opportunity to go
school in Nigeria through the save school initiative launched by the Nigerian
Private Sector Initiative,” NPSI. On her own part, the Okonjo-Iweala expressed
satisfaction over the successful hosting of the WEFA and adding that Nigeria
used the opportunity of the forum to canvass for investments and other
networking between local businessmen and the foreign investors that attended
the meetings. ”We are grateful for the first WEF in Africa. The attendance was
very strong with over 1000 delegates from all over the world. The forum was a
success because it enabled us to mobilize the support to bring back the girls.
We also managed to mobilize the international support and the local ones too,’’
She said. Vanguard
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