President Goodluck Jonathan late Saturday night met with Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, during which he directed the safe return of the 234 girls of Government Secondary School Chibok, who were abducted 19 days ago.
It was the first time that the President would be meeting with key persons connected with the Chibok abduction saga.
The meeting which was held at the First Lady Wing of the State House, started at 9.00pm and ended around 12.00 am on Sunday.
Present at the meeting were the Commissioner for Education, Local Government chairman of Chibok, the principal of the school, security man, the Commissioner of Police, DPO and WAEC officials.
It was also attended by Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark, all the Service Chiefs, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim and other principal officers of the government.
Presidential Media Adviser, Dr. Reuben Abati, while briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting, said it was a follow-up to the earlier meeting held with the Service Chiefs.
According to him, it was also “to further show his (President) determination to make sure that girls who were abducted are brought back to safety and no stone is left unturned to make sure that this is achieved”.
He said, “There is a cooperation at all levels; local state government, community and other stakeholders.
“Everybody is mobilised at all levels to ensure that the girls are brought back to safety. As you can see, all the security chiefs also attended this meeting.
“The President has given very clear directives that everything must be done to ensure that those girls are brought back to safety.
“There was a lot of discussion. This is the first time the President will be meeting with all the other key persons like the school principal, the local government chairman and the commissioner of police.
“This is a security operation and at this stage, it is not every detail of the efforts of the Federal Government that will be put into public domain particularly that there are indications that those responsible for the abduction have been issuing all kinds of threats.
“What is clear is the determination, the commitment and the resolve of Mr. President and the governor to make sure that these girls are brought back to safety”.
Abati, would not want to talk about the exact number of girls missing since the safety of every Nigerian is important to the President.
He said, “I don’t want to deal with numbers. Even if it is one person, the safety of every Nigerian is important”.
