'We don't know the whereabouts of Chibok girls,' President insists

The President stated this on Tuesday, August 23, at a meeting with former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon at the Presidential villa, Abuja.

Gowon, who shared the details of his discussion with Buhari with State House Correspondents, said the President's commitment to rescuing the girls is unwavering.

He said: “We discussed the general affairs of the country, the problems of the country, his fight against corruption, and all the efforts that he is making to deal with it and of course, the impatience of the public to see results of the fight which have yet to be found, since people have not been prosecuted yet, that would soon begin.

“These are some of the issues we talked about. One appreciates his efforts and determination to rid the country of corruption, which is one of the problems that have held the country down and has created serious set backs to the country both nationally and internationally and then, of course, the current situation about the Chibok girls and the efforts the government is making to rescue them. He said the government needed to get credible information about the whereabout of the girls and also those that would assist the government achieve that.

“I believe that the government is certainly determined to ensure that a number of these girls are brought back home safely as soon as possible. To achieve that, certain credibility must be established of our sources on information on their location, but as at now, no one knows where these girls are, and all this information that you have been getting, I don’t know their sources, but all efforts at engaging the international media and sources are necessary so that this matter can be resolved once and for all".

On the economy crisis in the country, the elder statesman urged Nigerians to be patient with the Buhari administration as the government is doing everything possible to solve the hardship.

Gowon further said: “Again we talked generally on the country and efforts the government is making to give the people what they want to see that then have money, but please remember we used to sell petroleum at $ 150 per barrel, but what is it today? It’s merely around $ 30 per barrel and the amount of crude oil they we used to produce over 2 million now it has gone down to about one million because of the problem we have been having when people have been blowing pipelines in the Niger Delta area.

“So we have problem and there isn’t enough money to be able to go round. So very soon, with the efforts the government is making to get things back to normal, making contacts with the Avengers and other aggrieved militants in the Niger Delta’ who are creating havoc there, we hope that all will be well soon.”

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The former Head of State added that he primarily visited Buhari to inform him that he (Gowon) will be travelling out of the country on vacation for a while.