PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will today visit Chibok, Borno State, where over 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram members about a month ago.
The president will make a stop in Maiduguri, the state capital, before making the journey to Chibok and, thereafter, depart for Paris, France, for a meeting of some African leaders on security with President Francois Hollande.
The Chibok abduction has attracted worldwide condemnation, with social media activists, under the hashtag,, “BringOurGirlsBack,” organising in many cities around the world.
However, since the abduction of the girls on April 14, it will be the first time Jonathan would be visiting the town and the damaged Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok. He would also have opportunity to meet with the families of the girls believed to be held hostage in the Sambisa forest bordering Cameroon.
A presidency source confirmed the planned visit.
President Jonathan, it was gathered, would travel to Paris, to participate in a summit convened by President Hollande to discuss fresh strategies for dealing with the security threat posed by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in West and Central Africa.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, in Abuja, on Thursday, said Jonathan would be joined at the summit by heads of state and government of Benin Republic, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
It added that it was also expected that Britain, the United States and the European Union would be represented at the talks, which would give special attention to the coordination and intensification of efforts to curtail the activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.
The President would be accompanied by the Minister of Defence, Lieutenant-General Aliyu Gusau (retd); the National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), as well as other principal aides and advisers and would return to Abuja at the conclusion of the summit tomorrow.
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