Jonathan, US Slam CDS Over Information On Location Of Chibok Girls

The United States said, yesterday, distanced itself from claims that the military had discovered the location of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, saying it does not have information to support the claim by the Nigerian military.

Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh had on Monday said that the military knew the location of the schoolgirls who were abducted by the Boko Haram Islamic sect on April 14.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, yesterday, that, “we don’t have independent information from the United States to support that statement. We, as a matter of policy and for the girls’ safety and well-being, would not discuss publicly this sort of information regardless.”

Badeh’s claim has also reportedly angered the Presidency.

It was gathered that President Jonathan is unhappy with the claim by the defence chief, which he considered as a breach of military tactics capable of hindering the move to free the children, who have been held by Boko Haram since last month.

A top Presidency source told Vanguard last night that Jonathan considered the CDS’ claim on the missing schoolgirls as an unnecessary outburst, which could frustrate ongoing efforts by the multinational team currently in the country to rescue the girls.

The source, which did not want to be quoted, said President Jonathan was still at a loss as to why Badeh made the statement at a time he was expected to be more cautious over the contentious issue, which is generating interest across the globe.

“Indeed the President is really upset over the claim and we do not know what will happen,” the source said.