Chibok Girls’ Parents while accepting a formal invitation to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday also gave an insight into why their publicized first meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan last Tuesday could not hold.
They explained that the parents and escaped girls who were in Abuja did not do so at the instance of government or its representatives for a meeting with Mr President but to meet Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani advocate of girl child education.
In a statement Wednesday by the Kibaku (Chibok) Area Development Association (KADA), the parents also explained that in the course of the interactions with Malala, “NEITHER the parents nor the escaped girls asked for a meeting with the President or any government functionary, rather the narrative back home was to persistently ask why the President has not visited them in Chibok since the abduction.”
In the statement, the parents added that they decided on their own accord to review the announced visit which they heard of like every other person during Malala’s visit considering that those of them in Abuja represented about two percent of the 219 parents of the abducted girls that were still with the Boko Haram insurgents.
The parents in the statement said that it was “totally misleading, unjust and without foundation to hold the Citizens’ platform BringBackOurGirls responsible for the decision made by the 12 parents and our community”.
While taking full responsibility for their decision on the issue, the parents said they welcomed “the formal invitation by the Presidency as a follow up to Malala’s visit which we received this morning”. The meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, next week.
