After controversy erupted over the group of 12 parents and five students pulling out of a requested meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the families of Chibok have reportedly accepted to meet with the President next Tuesday, according to Sahara Reporters. In addition, a new video from Boko Haram seemingly takes jabs at the #BringBackOurGirls movement.
RELATED: #BringBackOurGirls: Attacks Persist, Malala Visits, Now What’s Next?
National Community Chairman Dr. Pogu Bitrus confirmed that the group received a formal invitation from the President on Wednesday.
By Thursday, the parents of the still-missing girls reportedly held their own meeting in order to create the following list of demands that they will present to the Head of State:
– That the federal government goes in to immediate negotiation with the Boko Haram sect with a view to securing the safe return of the girls.
– Immediate establishment of a rehabilitation centre at Chibok to address psychological, medical, and traumatic effects of the abduction on parents, escaped, and yet-to-be rescued girls and the Chibok community.
– Reconstruction of Government Secondary School, Chibok, and the building of another secondary school within the Chibok community, considering the huge number of over 500 students in one class.
– Stationing of an army battalion at Chibok town so as to provide the necessary security to protect the Chibok community and its environs.
– Construction of the 40km Mbalala-Chibok-Damboa federal road, which has been on the drawing board for over 20 years, to enhance immediate and fast response to emergency occurrences.
– Provision of relief materials to the suffering people of Chibok and those who relocated to Chibok town from adjoining villages and local governments.
Earlier this week, the aforementioned group of parents and students appeared to snub the President, when they decided to reject his offer to meet.
For some, the haphazard meeting was a slap in the face, because it took girls’ education activist and Taliban-shooting survivor Malala Yousafzai to insist to the President that he meet with the group she had effortlessly met with just days before.
The missing girls of Government Secondary School in Chibok have been missing since April 14th and yet next Tuesday would be — barring any cancellations — the very first meeting to occur.
In addition to intermittent criticism both nationally and internationally about the President’s response to ongoing Boko Haram attacks, he has also been heavily slammed by critics who say he has only presented a cold shoulder to the victims of ruthless terrorists.
Leader of Boko Haram Targets #BringBackOurGirls
In a video (featured below) that was released earlier this week, Boko Haram leader Abubaker Shekau (pictured top) released yet another controversial video, showing that he and his terrorist group maintain close ties with al-Qaeda and are aware of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
Shekau took time to specifically thank his al-Qaeda leaders, further validating suspicions that Boko Haram is likely funded and working in tandem with the international Islamic terrorist organization that was founded by the now-deceased Osama bin Laden.
“To you my dear brethren, Muslims, those who are true believers and not those that practice democracy, not those who believe in constitution, not those who believe in western education. My regards to my leaders like Mullar Umar, the Amirul Muminin in Afghanistan, great minds like Sheikh Al Zawahiri; those like Amir of Yemen, Abu Basir; the likes of Abu Mus’ab Abdul Wudud; and others In Pakistan and Iran, like Al-Baghadad. My greetings go to you all. I thank you all. We give thanks to almighty Allah; here we are in the land called Nigeria; but we don’t see it as Nigeria.”
Shekau also applauded the death and destruction that has taken place in Nigeria this past year, claiming responsibility for a bombing in Kano and Nigeria’s first female suicide bomber:
“May God’s wrath befall the name Nigeria; all we know is the land of God. We are doing the religion of God and no one will stop us from practicing the religion of Allah, even if it is going to be only for a few people of millions of people. “God has given us victories of recent and we give thanks to Him. We were the ones that detonated bomb in Abuja, that filthy city; we were responsible for the bomb in Kano, in Plateau. We were the ones that sent a female bomber to the refinery in Lagos but Adams Oshiomole the governor of Edo state said it was a fire disaster.
“We led the attack on military base and killed the soldiers’ commander; and the military are lying that they killed 50 of our men; liars! How could you have killed us when I killed all your soldiers and the policemen there? I was the one that ordered the bomb in Konduga.
“God is great, God is great! You will never understand my mode of operation because I am working for God.”
Shekau then finally turned his attention to the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, reiterating that the terms of his conditions — that Boko Haram terrorists be released — still stand.
“Nigerians are saying BringBackOurGirls, and we are telling Jonathan to bring back our arrested warriors, our army.
(Speaking in faulty English) “Tell me who you are; I am reading the Quran, and you are reading the constitution; I am reading the rules and regulations of the Quran, and you are doing that of the constitution, the book of Lord Lugard, the book of Tafawa Balewa.”
Watch Shekau mock the #BringBackOurGirls campaign here:
Never seeming to take a break, Boko Haram attacked Bille village, killing another 27 and burning down a number of homes on Monday. The terrorists were said to open fire on the public, firing their rifles “indiscriminately.”
Echoing the point that Boko Haram is clearly not acting alone due to their seemingly never-ending supply of weaponry, local vigilante Yohana Musa told a reporter of the Bille attack, “The attackers were well-armed with weapons of mass destruction, such as anti aircraft guns, and rocket propelled launchers, and other dangerous weapons.
“Five of our (armed) members were killed, as well as over ten villagers. Several were injured. I am confused in fact. Right now, the village is on fire.”
But the residents of Bille didn’t take the assault lying down; some villagers were said to have fought back, killing five Boko Haram militants. Other residents are said to have fled to the bush or neighboring villages for safety.
RELATED: 30 More Girls & Women Flee, 15 Soldiers Ambushed & Killed By Boko Haram
