Why I cancelled Chibok visit – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday at Elysee Palace, Paris, France said that he cancelled his visit to Chibok where over 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists because his main interest was to locate and rescue the girls.

Jonathan said a visit to Chibok, Borno State was not top priority for now. “What is of interest now is to locate the girls. The girls are not in Chibok,” said the Nigerian leader, whose last-minute cancellation of a visit to the town, ostensibly for security reasons, was widely criticised.

“I will visit Chibok,” he said, but did not give a date.

On social network site, Twitter, @abati1990, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, had claimed that the President never planned to visit Chibok.

“Every trip by the President is usually pre-announced. The Presidency did not at any time announce a trip to Chibok today. Ignore rumors,” he tweeted.

He then tweeted again, “The statement issued by my office yesterday indicated very clearly that the President is scheduled to travel to Paris today.”

“It is therefore wrong and malicious to allege that a non-existent trip has been cancelled.”

According to AFP, a senior government official said that Jonathan’s trip to remote Chibok in Borno state “was on (the president’s) schedule up to this morning” (Friday 16 May) but the visit had been scrapped.

AFP said “no reason was given but security concerns were reportedly blamed.”