Chibok : Okupe Trying to Manipulate Presidential Committee’s Report -Borno

The “newest conspiracy theory propounded by Dr Doyin Okupe which is coming just when the Presidential Fact-finding Committee on Abducted Schoolgirls in Chibok ‎is rounding up its assignment and possibly writing it’s report, was a clever design aimed at manipulating the Committee’s report given the feelers that facts on ground do not favor the Presidency’s desperate plot to pronounce a major victim, guilty as speculated” the Borno State Government has said.
The Government spoke in reaction to comments by the Presidency which spoke through Dr Okupe at a BBC discussion program, hard-talk, aired on Tuesday. Okupe had alleged that only God, Governor Shettima, Borno’s commissioner for education and school principal of the affected ‎know the truth of what happened in Chibok, saying that all of them gave different accounts of what happened on April 14,2014 when over 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram.
Special Adviser to Governor Shettima on communications, Isa Gusau who spoke on behalf of the State Government said, “One must suspect and indeed question Okupe’s rather calculated remarks at a time the fact-finding committee on Chibok abduction set up by the Presidency Okupe works for, is rounding up its assignment after speaking with virtually all relevant stakeholders with the highest point being visits and interactive sessions with officials of Borno State Government in Maiduguri as well as parents, school authorities and students of the affected school. One would expect that the Committee is writing it’s report by now and given the facts already in public domain, it is clear that the likes of Okupe are jittery that the findings are unlikely to be what they had wickedly presumed, hence the say of things that will manipulate and mislead members of the Presidential Committee.
Continuing “Okupe knows very well, that on the night the President met with the Governor, the Commissioner of education and the principal, the Commissioner of police and DPO of Chibok were also there in connection with fact-finding by the President. So, why did Okupe deliberately keep out the police in his innuendos? He was being clever by half. He kept out the police because he must have seen the letter written by Borno State Government to the police prior to the attack, he also knows what the police DPO told the President the night they met, Okupe also knows that exonerating the police is keeping out the Presidency out of his innuendos.
“For God sake the President set up a high powered fact-finding committee, the committee must have by now, found the facts, why wouldn’t the Presidency trust its own committee and allow it to present its findings? Why is Okupe saying all these things to create yet another confusion just when the Committee is rounding up and very likely, writing its report? Could it be that Okupe has got the impression from facts already in public domain, that the conspiracy theories have refused to fly? Perhaps, he has all the feelers that facts on ground do not favor the desperate plot to pronounce a major victim, guilty as speculated‎ because the very first term of reference issued by the Presidency which says the committee should find out why the Government Secondary School Chibok was opened when others were closed in the State has aleady been contradicted by the same WAEC’s letter that the Okupe’s relied upon, albeit blindly, because the letter shows that not only the school in Chibok was open but indeed, Chibok was just one out of six examination centres in different parts of the State including areas not far from Chibok that were opened to students . So, it is to be expected that someone like Dr Doyin Okupe probably regrets the establishment of that committee and hence the late minute desperation. Not only Okupe seemed involved in the last minute attempt. The Minister of Information was also all over the media saying all kinds of falsehoods all in a combined effort to manipulate the fact-finding report. It should be importantly recalled, that after that unfortunate attack and abduction, Dr Okupe and his likes had come up with different conspiracy theories and all the theories have failed and have been confined to the dustbin where they belong. First, they said there was no abduction. When they were proved wrong, they said the State Government planned, when they were proved wrong, they said the State Government was specifically advised by WAEC and the supervising Minister of Education via two separate letters not to conduct exams in Chibok, however the Borno Government brought out the two letters and shared with the Nigerian public, again the documents have disputed the claims by an intimated WAEC head in Nigeria, he supervising Minister of Education and the Okupe’s.
Then they said, the State Government doesn’t support the military, again we came up with staggering figures and clear evidence of Borno’s material of over ten billion naira through provision of Armoured Personnel Carriers, 400 brand new patrol vehicles, regular fuel, logistics to both the police and the military, building of accommodation for soldiers at a barrack as well as provision of cash as immediate palliative to families of slain soldiers, training, kitting,equipping and payment of stipends to civilian volunteers and also robust intelligence based support to the military using residents, hunters, vigilantes and the traditional institutions. Now that Borno’s support for the military is of public knowledge, the grand master of twists, Dr Doyin Okupe on Tuesday came with yet another theory that died on arrival.
The Borno State Government said “All these theories won’t sell. Rather than waste energies on falsehood, let’s channel combined efforts towards the rescue or release of these priceless girls. Okupe needs to grow up, many of those who are younger than him in age and junior to him in many respects seem to be outgrowing him in management of public utterances. He should grow up. For us in Borno, we regard the police, the military, the Federal Ministry of Education and the WAEC as part of us, this why we didn’t want to speak until we were pushed to the wall after all these conspiracy thoughts were brought forward. We should all face the real issues which are rescuing the schoolgirls and ending the insurgency and quickly too. We should mobilize Nigerians against our common enemy which is the Boko Haram instead of making so much effort to turn Borno that is the major victim of the insurgency into the major accused. Okupe should know that majority of Nigerians don’t quite trust him,no one believes whatever he says.
“He should therefore, help the Presidency and not mislead the highest level of Authority in Nigeria.