Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday finally met with the parents of 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamic terrorists — but the meeting came too late for seven parents killed when the same sect of terrorists attacked their village earlier this month.
The long-overdue confab between Jonathan and parents underscored the country’s dissatisfaction with his handling of the kidnapping by Boko Haram terrorists of the schoolgirls on April 15.
Jonathan added to his government’s tone-deaf handling of the crisis by criticizing the #BringOurGirlsBack social media campaign to shed light on the abductions.
The nearly universally embraced effort has been spearheaded by Michelle Obama. But Jonathan said #BringBackOurGirls activists have unnecessarily politicized the situation.
Jonathan, the ministers of education and of finance, his national security adviser and Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno state, from which the girls were abducted, met with parents and 51 of 57 girls who were kidnapped but have since escaped.
More than 150 people attended the closed-door meeting at the presidential villa in Abuja, a government spokesman said.
The meeting came only after Jonathan accepted an invitation from Pakistani girls-education activist Malala Yousafzai to see the worried parents.
But Tuesday’s event came too late for at least 11 parents of kidnapped girls — seven of whom were killed by terrorists in their village earlier this month and four more who died of heart attacks and emotional trauma spurred by the abductions.
Boko Harem militants — the same sect that kidnapped the girls — are believed responsible for the village raid.
Despite the inexplicable 100-day delay before Tuesday’s meeting, Jonathan said he was looking forward to sitting down with parents.
“The president has been looking for an opportunity to sit down together with the parents directly and with the girls, themselves, the ones who have escaped to reassure them of the government’s commitment, to empathize with them and to bring them up to date about the efforts being made by the administration to ensure that the girls are brought back home safely,” presidential spokesman Ruben Abati told Voice of America before the meeting.
Shettima has accused Jonathan of not doing enough to rescue the girls and said that Boko Haram fighters are better armed and more motivated than Nigeria’s military.
Some parents and leaders of Chibok town have urged Jonathan to negotiate with Boko Haram. The terrorists have demanded a swap for detained fighters, but Jonathan has refused to consider such an exchange.
“As a father of girls, I stand ready to meet with the parents of our abducted children and the truly brave girls that have escaped this nightmare through the grace of God,” Jonathan said last week.