Chibok abduction: Jonathan gives Governor Shettima marching orders

President Goodluck Jonathan in the wee hours of Sunday gave a marching order to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State to ensure the safe return of the abducted 234 girls of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.
The President met with Governor Shettima and other key persons connected with the issue at the First Lady’s Wing of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting, which started at 9pm, ended in the early hours of Sunday and had in attendance the Commissioner for Education in Borno State, the chairman of Chibok Local Government Area, the principal of the school, the security man, the Commissioner of Police, the Divisional Police Officer and officials of the West African Examinations Concil.
On the Federal Government side were Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo; the Senate President, David Mark; all the Service Chiefs; the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; and other principal officers of the government.
Briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting, Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the President summoned the meeting to further demonstrate his commitment to the safe return of the girls.
Abati, however, declined to divulge details of the meeting since security issues were discussed but said everything would be done to ensure the girls are freed.
According to him, the follow up meeting is “to further show his (Jonathan’s) 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”.
Abati added: “There is 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.”
When asked about the exact number of girls missing, Abati would not want to talk about that, insisting what matters is for the girls to return safely.
He said: “I don’t want to deal with numbers.
“Even if it is one person, the safety of every Nigerian is important.”