Chibok community split over meeting with Jonathan

By Mashe Gwamna  with agency report

There appears to be a split between the parents of abducted Chibok school girls and the parents of the schoolgirls who escaped from the insurgents in Borno State almost a hundred days ago. This is coming after President Goodluck Jonathan sought a private meeting with the parents of the young women.

While some people feel that the parents of the members of the school girls who had escaped and returned home should  confer with the President, on their part, the parents of the school girls who are still being held captive by the insurgents have said they are the ones that  deserve to hold talks with the President.

One of the parents of the abducted school girls, who spoke to the Hausa service of the BBC, monitored yesterday, said it seems that the issue of who deserve to meet with President Jonathan has been  politicised and suggested that three representatives from each ward in Borno to travel to Abuja.

According to him, they failed to understand why only some of the parents of the escaped schoolgirls were selected to meet with the President, whereas they, the parents of the still captive school girls are the ones that should have been given priority.

It  could be recalled that parents of some of the abducted girls as well as some escaped Chibok girls who earlier turned down an opportunity to meet President Jonathan on Thursday received a formal invitation from the Nigerian presidency.

According to National Chairman of the community, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, a letter requesting a meeting with the president tomorrow (Tuesday) was received.

The community meeting is coming several some three months after the militant group, Boko Haram kidnapped over 250 girls in Chibok, Borno state.

President Jonathan initially ignored the abductions, claiming it was politically motivated, however, a global movement around the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag on Twitter mobilized the world against the Nigerian regime following the abductions.

An earlier meeting with the girls and their families was cancelled by the parents, forcing the presidency to claim that the cancellation was the handiwork of opposition and the #BringBackOurGirls movement.