PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan’s office reacted over the weekend to demands made by the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, that he resign his position as President and Commander-in-Chief and convert to Islam.
In a statement signed by Dr. Reuben Abati, the Chief Media Advisor to President Jonathan, the president said he has no intention of resigning his position as president and that he surely has no plans of converting to Islam.
The president pointed out that he was duly elected by popular mandate in an election that was free and fair, by people who included Muslims and Christians across Nigeria. According to the president, many of the Muslims who voted for him were aware of his Christian faith before he was elected, making the need for his conversion as demanded by the outlawed group unnecessary.
“The President cannot be intimidated by any group or individual. The President will never resign. He has the mandate of Nigerians to serve his father land and nobody should imagine that he will succumb to blackmail,” Dr. Abati told journalists in Abuja.
“When Nigerians voted overwhelmingly for President Jonathan in the 2011 general election, they knew they were voting for a Christian…So, it amounts to sheer blackmail for any individual or group to ask the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to convert to Islam.”
The ‘Boko Haram’ group, who has targeted and killed hundreds of Nigerians this year alone, many of them innocent Christians at their places of worship on Sundays, had released a rambling statement on the internet recently where it asked that President Jonathan stepped down and convert from Christianity to Islam.
In the insult-laden statement, the group through its spokesperson featured in the video, a man alleged to be Abubakar Shekau, said that it does not target women and children in its attack, even as evidence to the contrary continue to be seen in virtually all attacks carried out by the violent organization.
Several random attacks were carried out by the group over the weekend, mostly targeting members of the government security apparatus installed to repel their bloody attacks on innocent people. Several military and paramilitary personnel were killed in attacks in Yobe and Borno states over the weekend.
Last week, the Emir of Fika was similarly targeted in an attack that nearly cost him his life. The Emir’s personal bodyguard however died in the attack.