President Goodluck Jonathan has cancelled his planned visit to Chibok, Borno State, where over 230 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram members over a month ago. The visit earlier scheduled for today, was cancelled amid apparent security reasons. Two officials in the presidency, who the Associated Press said confirmed the cancellation, told the news agency that “there were apparent concerns about security after news of the planned trip was leaked to the media and published on front pages of newspapers on Friday.”
President Jonathan had been expected to fly on one of his presidential jets from Abuja, the capital in central Nigeria, to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and then be transported by military helicopter to the town of Chibok, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the south. The road from Maiduguri to Chibok which passes by the Sambisa Forest to which the girls first were taken that, is believed to be a known hideout of the insurgents and has been attacked many times. Reports had it that 12 troops were killed in an ambush on that road on Monday night. The Defence Ministry said four soldiers were killed in a firefight on the outskirts of Chibok that night.
The president had earlier planned to embark on the trip on Friday and make a stopover in Maiduguri, the state capital before visiting Chibok and later depart for Paris, France, for a meeting with President Francois Hollande and some African leaders on security issues. In the last one month, the abduction of over 230 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, by the Islamist terror group, Boko Harm, has attracted worldwide condemnation, which brought about the need for the country to seek foreign military assistance.
However, since the schoolgirls’ abduction on April 14, the aborted trip was the first publicised attempt of President Jonathan to visit the town and the damaged Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok. If the President had made the trip according to plans, he was sheduled use the visit as an opportunity to meet with the families of the girls believed to be held hostage by Boko Haram members in the Sambisa forest bordering Cameroon.