In a statement signed by its coordinators, Obiageli Ezekwesili and Hadiza Bala Usman, the group maintained that even though some members of the movement were surprised at the sudden invitation
to meet with the president, “its leadership concluded that session by emphasizing that it was the absolute right of the Chibok community to decide on the matter”.
“It is instructive to note that majority of those at the Unity Fountain on that day were visiting from the Chibok community and were mostly the ones who vehemently expressed dismay at the information from the chairman,” the group stated.
According to the group, the chairman of the Chibok community “clarified on the manner the invitation was conveyed to him and the parents at that meeting and reassured his community that he would schedule an emergency meeting to discuss the matter further.
“We want to repeat, for the avoidance of doubt, that we are not responsible for the cancellation of the meeting with the president by the 11 parents and five escaped girls from Chibok as being insinuated by some government officials,” the statement noted
The group further described the controversy surrounding the cancelled visit as an escalation of the pattern of the campaign of calumny by government officials on its advocacy for the rescue of the Chibok girls.
Noting that it was not aware nor was it part of the discussion of the said visit to the president, the group said at the BBOG daily sit-out it was informed by the chairman, Abuja Chibok community, of the outcome of a meeting held with officials of the presidency in Malala’s suite immediately after her speech.
“Meanwhile, it is pertinent to firmly state that since the inception of our movement in April 2014, we have remained steadfast and adopted all means and channels of civil engagement in the advocacy of our singular issue, which is #BringBackOurGirls NOW and ALIVE,” the group added.
In the same vein, the Kibaku (Chibok) community in Abuja and representatives of the 12 parents and five schoolgirls who escaped from Boko Haram said yesterday that the presidency lied on the cancelled visit to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Kibaku community noted that they take full responsibility as to why the girls and their parents did not meet with the president, even as they described the formal invitation by Jonathan for the follow-up on Malala’s visit as a welcome development.
The senior special assistant on public affairs to the president, Dr Doyin Okupe, had on Tuesday accused the leadership of #BringBackOurGirls campaign group of deliberately stopping the 12 parents and five escaped schoolgirls from meeting with Jonathan as scheduled.
Following the promise he made to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl-child education campaigner, when she visited him at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Monday, Jonathan had promised to meet with the parents of the girls.
But the community of Abuja-based Chibok indigenes, in a statement signed by its co-founder, Mr Rotimi Olawale, faulted Okupe’s claim, saying the logistics and meeting between the 12 fathers and five escaped Chibok girls and Malala was facilitated by them and the citizens’ platform of BringBackOurGirls with their consent based on trust and considering the group’s sustained and focused advocacy for the rescue bid of their daughters.
Faulting Okupe’s position, Kibaku said: “It is totally misleading, unjust and without foundation to hold the citizens’ platform of BringBackOurGirls responsible for the decision made by the 12 parents and our community. We therefore take full responsibility for our decision and welcome the formal invitation by the Presidency as a follow-up to Malala’s visit which we received this morning.
“We the members of the Kibaku (Chibok) community and representatives of the 12 fathers and five escaped girls who were hosted by Malala during her visit to Nigeria hereby speak on their behalf to offer to Nigerians the facts as they are and to put the records straight and correct the erroneous impression making the rounds in the media on the botched meeting with the president.”
Noting that the parents and escaped girls did not come to Abuja at the instance of government or its representatives for a meeting with the president, the community noted that they had come based on the full understanding that they were coming to meet with Malala.
It said that, in the course of their interactions with Malala, the parents of the escaped girls never asked for a meeting with the president or any government functionary, adding that “the narrative back home was to persistently ask why the president has not visited them in Chibok since the abduction”.
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