President Muhammadu Buhari who was obviously angry after meeting with parents of the abducted Chibok girls stormed out of the venue.
The Bring Back Our Girls Campaigners after several hours marching and protesting in Abuja insisted on meeting with the President.
Speaking to leading online news portal, The Cable, a leader of the Chibok campaigners, Aisha Yesufu said, “The president said he had no credible intelligence on the missing Chibok girls. He said he is somebody who does not lie. And he will not start by lying.”
“We are not saying the president should lie, but when you are saying there is no credible intelligence, and that the girls are scattered and married off; then how do we know? These are two things. “And he said it (abduction of the Chibok girls) happened during the last administration. I find it very worrisome. I remember one of the parents asked what he meant by saying it happened in the last administration. Does it mean the girls will not be rescued?
“I would like the president to know that there is no vacuum in government. That it happened during the last administration is not an excuse. It is duty of the Nigerian government to ensure that the Chibok girls are rescued. It is their right and not a privilege. And where we have failed there is a need for us to apologise. “As for me, I was terribly sad and shocked because the president did not look at the parents to say ‘we are sorry as a nation for your children who have been abducted for 21 months’.
“The president finished his speech, he dropped the microphone and walked out. And I thought that could have been a moment for him to connect with the parents. “We will continue our campaign. We do not care who the head of the government is. It is duty of the Nigerian government to rescue the Chibok and we will continue making our demands. The government should stop the excuses.”
Minister for Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan was reportedly rude to the parents of the girls who were abducted exactly 600 days ago.
Leader of the rights group, Oby Ezekwesili while speaking on Al-hassan’s actions said, “You have been very unfair to us. I don’t understand why you can be chiding the parents and the movement. These parents were triggered by the words of the president who promised to rescue their daughters.”
EIENigeria in a series of tweets described the President’s mood during and after the meeting.
Read the tweets below
#BBOGReengagesPMB: @MBuhari was visibly angry. He spoke in English & Hausa. Stormed out of the hall. No pictures or time spent with parents.
— EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria) January 14, 2016
#BBOGReengagesPMB: The mood & tone of the July 8th meeting was much warmer than today's meeting. @MBuhari was cold. #BringBackOurGirls
— EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria) January 14, 2016
Esther, a parent, said "no matter what conditions our daughters are in; we want them like that!"#BBOGReengagesPMB pic.twitter.com/dHxrwRHqyB
— EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria) January 14, 2016
Mr @MBuhari missed a golden opportunity to connect 'emotionally' with the #ChibokParents. #BBOGReengagesPMB
The demand continues…
— EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria) January 14, 2016