Leaders of Chibok community have denied receiving money from the presidency for brokering a meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and parents of the abducted Chibok girls as well as those who escaped.
Instead, they said it was the parents and girls – not community leaders – who received money.
There had been media reports that a largesse by the presidency caused a rift between the community leaders and the Chibok parents. The presidency had denied the reports as well, branding it “falsehood”.
In a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday, the community leaders, under the auspices of the Chibok Area Development Association, expressed disgust at the news of the association receiving money from the presidency,
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“We took the moral high ground as a community association that represents the Chibok people in Abuja to facilitate the recent visit of parents of our abducted daughters and 51 of the 57 that escaped. We helped make that visit possible despite our misgivings that it was a poor substitute to our expectation that Mr. President should have visited Chibok even before the visit of our people for a tragedy that is now 107 days old,” the association said.
“When the presidency requested us to invite parents and the Chibok girls who escaped against July 22, 2014, we accepted the responsibility on the condition that we shall facilitate by way of contacting and mobilising the parents and the girls who escapped, thereby playing the sole role of facilitators.
“We clearly spelled out to the presidency, through the office of the chief of staff that we shall not be involved with any financial transaction whatsoever, including payment of transportation from Chibok to Yola, flight by air from Yola to Abuja, hotel accommodation and feeding in Abuja, and intra-city transportation while in Abuja.
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“We specifically conveyed our stand in that regard by a letter dated July 18, 2014, copies of which are available for your perusal. The presidency agreed to our request and made the arrangements for the conveyance of the parents and the girls who escaped from Chibok to Abuja, accommodated them and was responsible for their feeding and local transit.”
The association lamented that the goal of canvassing for the safe return of the abducted Chibok girls was losing steam over the “allegation of sharing money”.
Shrugging off the allegation, it explained that in the midnight of July 22, the senior special assistant to the president on special duties who had been coordinating the visit on the side of the presidency, visited the hotel and told the 51 girls who escaped that the presidency sent them a token of N100, 000 each and accordingly gave them the said sum without prior discussion with any member of the association nor any other person in the community.
“He equally gave the sum of N200, 000 each to 61 parents out of the 122 parents that came on the visit. Fifty-one parents were given N100, 000 each on the basis that the money given to him was not enough to go round at N200, 000. The remaining 10 parents were not given any amount of money,” it said.
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“As for the money given to some parents back home in Chibok, it was the sum of N1, 000, 000 given to them by the Hon. member of the house of representatives representing Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza federal constituency, which is the source of the alleged N7, 000 given to parents in Chibok that were not part of the visit.
“While we acknowledge that any well-intended support for our suffering population, which has lost means of livelihood since the events of April 14 and subsequent attacks could be welcome, the approach that the presidency adopted has brought reproach and dishonour to our community in the eyes of the public that has supported us since the abduction of our daughters.
“We hereby state categorically that no amount of money whatsoever was given to KADA leadership to share among the parents and escaped girls or for whatever reason and therefore the allegation is completely baseless, false and malicious to say the least.”
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