Jonathan meets with parents of Chibok Girls

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday met with parents of some of the schoolgirls who were kidnapped by men of Boko Haram insurgent group in Chibok, Borno State on 14 April.

The meeting is being held behind closed doors, though P.M. NEWS gathered that the media may be allowed in or briefied about the meeting later.

Apart from the parents of the students, the meeting is also being attended by opinion amd community leader of Chibok, some of the girls who escaped from Boko Haram captivity and parents of the escaped girls.

P.M. NEWS learnt that about 50 students who escaped from Boko Haram and about 40 parents are in the meeting.

It was gathered that the parents and other members of Chibok community arrived Abuja yesterday and were lodged in NICON Luxury hotel from where they were taken in four Abuja mass transit buses to the meeting with the President.

President Jonathan has been under pressure to meet with the parents of the girls since they were kidnapped over three months ago.

The parents of the girls pulled out of meeting with the President last Tuesday.

The President had agreed to meet 12 parents and five girls who escaped shortly after being seized by the militants, following a request by Pakistani rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai.

But the presidency had accussed the #BringBackOurGirls, a global campaign launched on social media to secure the release of the girls of asking the parents not to attend the meeting.

Members of the Chibok community later said in a statement they called off the meeting because it was organised in a hurry, and there was not time to consult with all the parents.
Reports indicated that parents of 11 of the girls have died since their abduction by the Boko Haram group.

The AP has also reported that four parents of the abducted girls have died of heart failure, high blood pressure and other illnesses blamed on the trauma caused by the abductions.

The AP also reported that seven parents of the studenst were killed during a raid by Boko Haram on Kautakari, a village close to Chibok early in July.

The insurgent group has offered to release the over 200 girls in its custody in exchange for its members, a request which the government has so far rejected.