Outcome of the President Jonathan's Closed Doors meeting with Abducted Chibok Girls Parents!

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Tuesday
in Abuja reassured the Chibok community
that his Administration is doing everything
humanly possible to rescue the over 200 girls
abducted from a college there in April and
return them safely to their parents.
Speaking at a meeting in the Presidential
Villa with parents of the abducted girls, some
of the girls who escaped from their abductors
and leaders of the community, President
Jonathan appealed for their patience,
understanding and cooperation.
“Anyone who gives you the impression that
we are aloof and that we are not doing what
we are supposed to do to get the girls out is
not being truthful.
“Our commitment is not just to get the girls
out, it is also to rout Boko Haram completely
from Nigeria. But we are very, very mindful
of the safety of the girls. We want to return
them all alive to their parents. If they are
killed in any rescue effort, then we have
achieved nothing,” President Jonathan told
the parents and community leaders at the
meeting which was also attended by
Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State,
Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State and the
Senate President, Senator David Mark.
The President said that although he was yet
to visit Chibok in the aftermath of the
abductions, his heart was constantly with its
traumatized parents and people, and his
desire was to visit them when their
daughters have been freed and they can
receive him with smiling faces of joy, rather
than with tears of anguish.
“Our duty now is to take all relevant steps to
recover our girls alive and our primary
interest is getting them out as safely as
possible. I will not want to say much, but we
are doing everything humanly possible to get
the girls out.
“This not the time for talking much. This is
the time for action. We will get to the time
that we will tell stories. We will get to the
time that we will celebrate and I assure you
that, by God’s grace, that time will come
soon,” President Jonathan told them.
Responding to appeals from the community
leaders for more help in overcoming some of
the challenges imposed on Chibok and
neighbouring communities by the Boko
Haram insurgency, the President said that
the National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA) and Federal Medical Agencies will
intensify their efforts to provide them with
additional relief aid and assistance.
He also assured them that Chibok and other
communities in the three North-Eastern
States most affected by the Boko Haram
insurgency will be the first beneficiaries of
the Victims’ Support Fund, the Presidential
Initiative for the North-East, the Safe Schools
Initiative and other developmental
programmes which the Federal Government
is evolving to address the damage, losses,
setbacks, economic and social dislocations
occasioned by the Boko Haram insurgency.
“We solicit your maximum cooperation. Let
us work together. Evil can never overcome
good. We will surely overcome Boko
Haram,” he told them.
In his remarks at the meeting, Governor
Shettima called for more sobriety, reflection
and unity of purpose in the fight against
terrorism in the country.
He pledged that his state will give President
Jonathan the fullest possible support for his
efforts to address the problems caused by
terrorism and the Boko Haram insurgency.
Dr. Pogu Bitrus presented the Chibok
community’s address to the President.
Other speakers at the meeting included a
district head, Mr. Zannamadu Usman, a
member of the Borno State House of
Assembly, Hon. Aminu Foni Chibok, parents
of the abducted girls and three of the girls
who escaped from their captors, Godia
Simon, Dorcas Musa and Joy Bishara.
Source: encomium