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| Jonathan with some of the Chibok parents |
More messy revelations are coming out
following the N100 million cash gift allegedly given to parents of abducted
Chibok girls when they met President Goodluck Jonathan on July 22 at the
Presidential Villa, this SHOWBIZPLUSng can authoritatively report.
They have reportedly cried out that
they have been cheated by their community leaders in the sharing formula. The
Presidency allegedly handed over the money to leaders of the Chibok community
in Abuja for onward presentation to parents of the abducted schoolgirls.
According to a report monitored on
Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, however, some of
the parents are now alleging that the Abuja-based community leaders have shortchanged
them.
One parent, who was among those who
visited the President, told BBC that he got only N200,000. He said: “I got only
N200,000 out of the said N100million allegedly received by our leaders in
Abuja. Some of us got N300,000 and some less than that.
He also said that he was not
comfortable with the way the money was shared among parents of the kidnapped
girls. According to him: “Our leaders in Abuja are using the girls to enrich
themselves. In fact, some of the parents were screened out of the entourage by
the Chibok leaders in Abuja. Many of them are residents of Abuja, not parents
of the kidnapped girls”.
Another parent, who was screened out
of the delegation that visited the President, said he got only N7,000 out of
the money shared.
“I was at the farm when they brought
the N7, 000 to my house and I collected it. Some of us got even less, some got
N300 and below,” he said.
The parents stressed that they were
not selling their daughters and that the money from the President just came to them
as they neither asked for, nor expected it.
One of the community leaders, Pobu
Bitrus, who is also a member of the House of Representatives and was at the
meeting with the President explained to the BBC that after meeting with the
President, monies were distributed to the parents in envelopes.
“After we met with the president,
the parents were given monies in envelopes and that’s all. All other things
they are saying about N100million, I don’t know about that,” Mr. Bitrus said.
No money was given — Presidency In
its reaction, yesterday, the Presidency however said that it never gave N100
million to parents of the abducted school girls, who were at the Presidential
Villa, Abuja last week, saying the story was absolutely false.
In a text message to Vanguard
yesterday, Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public
Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who noted that the government only took care of the
parents’ accommodation and feeding, said “the story is absolute falsehood.
“The President did not give any
N100m to the visitors from Chibok. Government took care of their accommodation,
feeding and transportation.
“Government’s plan is robust
rehabilitation and resettlement of the girls who have escaped so they can
continue their education.
“The government also plans to
rebuild the school and in general terms, repair damaged infrastructure as a
result of Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.”
Three months after the Chibok girls
were abducted, President Jonathan finally agreed to meet with their parents
following an appeal by the Pakistan girl-child education activist Malala
Yusoufai. The Presidency had faced intense criticism over its handling of the
kidnap of the Chibok girls being held by the extremist Boko Haram sect since
April 14.
Vanguard
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