Reuben Abati claims Jonathan never planned to visit Chibok

There had been reports of a presidential visit to Chibok, the town where over 250 girls were kidnapped.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesperson, Reuben Abati, has claimed that the president had no plans to visit Chibok on Friday.

However, presidential aides, including those who accompany Mr. Jonathan on such visits, countered Mr. Abati, saying the spokesperson was just trying to ‘save face.’

“Everybody at the Villa knows that we were asked to prepare for the Chibok trip on Thursday. Some of us in the advanced party even left yesterday,” a presidential aide, who sought anonymity as he was not authorised to speak, said.

Mr. Jonathan has been heavily criticised for failing to visit the community one month after over 250 students were kidnapped by the Boko Haram from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State.

Following local and international outrage at the kidnap, the international community led by the U.S. and the U.K. are assisting the Nigerian government in the search for the teenage girls with Nigerians expressing some sought of relief when the news of Mr. Jonathan’s planned visit filtered from the villa on Thursday.

Mr. Abati, however, said in a series of tweets on his twitter handle @abati1990 that the planned visit was a rumour.

His tweets came several minutes after a presidency source told the BBC that the trip was shelved for security reasons.

Read Abati tweets below:

Reuben Abati @abati1990

Every trip by the President is usually pre-announced. The Presidency did not at any time announce a trip to Chibok today. Ignore rumours.
12:55 PM - 16 May 2014 Nigeria, Nigeria

Reuben Abati @abati1990

The statement issued by my office yesterday indicated very clearly that the President is scheduled to travel to Paris today.
12:58 PM - 16 May 2014 Nigeria, Nigeria

Reuben Abati @abati1990

It is therefore wrong and malicious to allege that a non-existent trip has been cancelled.
1:02 PM - 16 May 2014 Nigeria, Nigeria


Esito Ekpo's Blog had reported that it was confirmed from a presidential aide at 12:10 p.m. on Friday that the president was still in Abuja and would fly directly to France.

President Goodluck Jonathan will no longer visit Chibok on Friday, aides have said.

“What do you expect Abati to say? They just cancelled the trip,” another aide at the Villa said on Friday.

Officials in the Borno government also said on Thursday that they were expecting the president on Friday, with some questioning Mr. Jonathan’s plans to fly from Maiduguri to Chibok without travelling through the bad road that links the Borno capital with the troubled community.

The federal Damboa, Chibok, Mbalala highway is yet to be constructed years after money was budgeted for it.

Borno, like Yobe and Adamawa has been under emergency rule since May last year with a renewed offensive by the Boko Haram leading to the death of over two thousand people in 2014.

Since the 2014 attacks began, including an attack on a federal school in Buni Yadi, Yobe, in February, Mr. Jonathan is yet to visit either Yobe or Borno to commensurate with families of the victims.

The president had planned to Chibok, the town where over 250 female students of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State were kidnapped on April 14.

The visit was supposed to be a stopover on Mr. Jonathan’s trip to France for a security summit.

Although the visit was not confirmed by presidency, an advanced team of the presidential entourage left Abuja for Borno on Thursday; a normal practice in the presidency.

Security reasons

Presidency sources told the BBC that Mr. Jonathan cancelled his visit to Chibok for security reasons.

The insecurity in the troubled states is also believed to be the reason Mr. Jonathan has not visited there in 2014.

When the Buni Yadi incident occurred, several Nigerians including the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, advised the president to follow the lines of world leaders in similar climes who have experienced such disasters by visiting the school and the community to reassure the victims’ families and residents of the area of government’s support.

Borno is the major state where the Boko Haram insurgents operate and has been under emergency rule since May last year.

In the last one month, the Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people in various raids on different Borno villages. Several houses and other property were also destroyed.

Mr. Jonathan has been criticised for not acting early enough to secure the release of the Chibok girls and for not visiting either the school or the parents of the abducted girls.