At a time her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, was setting up a fact-finding committee on the matter, she was presiding over a five-hour marathon meeting of stakeholders that ended at about 11pm.
While adjourning the meeting to Sunday by 4pm, the President’s wife summoned some individuals which she believe would assist in unraveling the circumstances leading to the girls’ abduction and their whereabouts.
Among those summoned were the Borno State Commissioner of Police, the state Commissioner for Education, the chairman of the local government, the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Chibok, the wife of the village head, the school principal and the school gateman.
Others are at least two teachers from the school, the chairman and secretary of the school’s Parents Teachers Association, two house parents, two parents of missing children, as well as two parents whose children had returned home.
Mrs. Jonathan said if the schoolgirls were not found by Sunday, she would not hesitate to lead women on a protest match to Maiduguri to demand for their whereabouts from the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima.
“By Sunday, we must have our children. If not, we will match to Borno and ask the governor to give us our children. We will match to National Assembly to see the Senate President and will also match to see the President,” she said.
She also announced the composition of a committee saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that those she summoned attend the Sunday meeting.
The committee which she said would be chaired by the wife of Borno State governor who was absent at the meeting, has wife of the Senator and member of the House of Representatives from the affected constituency, wife of the minister from Borno State and wife of the chairman of the affected local government area as members.
Mrs. Jonathan said she had been dealing with the issue secretly since the news of the abduction broke and had decided to come to the open. She said failure would not be an option.
She said, “Within three days, something will happen. We will get to the root of the matter. I don’t come out and go back empty. I have come out and something must happen..
“We will not fold our hands and see our children kidnapped, our husbands, sons, daughters also being killed. We should be more concerned.
“We will form a committee to call on appropriate persons to come and answer questions. They must answer us. If they say they won’t answer us, then they should go and bring our children. The demonstration will take place at their doorsteps.
“When they answer us, we can then approach our neighbours, the President, Senate President and others to help us.
“I have been dealing with this secretly but you have taken me to the market square. There is no more hiding.”
Mrs. Jonathan said as the chief security officers of their states, governors must be ready to take the heat for any act of insecurity in their domain.
Source: Punch
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