President Goodluck Jonathan has predicated the rescue of the hundreds of female students abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on cooperation from their parents and guardians.

Speaking this evening during a Presidential Media Chat, which is still on-going, Jonathan lamented that the parents and guardians have not been forthcoming with the needed information to facilitate the rescue of the girls.

“What we request is maximum cooperation from the parents and guardians of these girls,” Jonathan said, revealing that he 44 and 53 have been given as the number of abducted girls who escaped. “The ones that have not been able to comeback, they have not been able to tell us . . . I am pleading with them to give us maximum cooperation . . . They should release information about these girls and their photographs,” he added.

The Media Chat started hours after the Northern States Christian and Elders Forum (NOCSEF), an affiliate of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), this afternoon released the names of abducted 180 girls.

On the condition of the abducted girls, the President said: “One thing we are happy about is that none of these girls has been hurt or killed.”

He empathised with parents and guardians of the girls, acknowledging the pain they are going through but assured: “Let me reassure them that we will get their daughters out. Wherever these girls are, we’ll surely get them out.”

Jonathan disagreed with those who say that his administration has not been doing much to rescue the girls. He highlighted what he has done, including holding meetings with the Service Chiefs and Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, as well as consulting the governments of neighbouring countries.

The President said that a lot of military operations have also been going on and that “security agencies have been combing the whole place” but that these efforts have not been noticed by people because troops were already stationed in Borno as at the time of the kidnapping of the girls around 11:45 p.m. on April 14.

He dismissed reports that his administration is negotiating with the abductors of the girls, pointing out that nobody has come out to claim responsibility for the act while Boko Haram is a faceless organisation.

Jonathan also commented on last Thursday’s bombing of Nyanya, an Abuja suburb, describing it as “worrisome.” He said that the bombing “was never expected” but praised the security agencies for the number of potential bomb attacks they forestall. “We will continue to do our best,” he assured.

He described these as “trying times for the country and trying times for the whole world” but said that “as a nation, we will get over it.”

•Photo shows President Jonathan.

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