TheCable

Parents of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls have denied holding any meeting with the federal government.

Mohammed Wakil, minister of state for power, had said on Thursday that he met with relatives of the abducted schoolgirls in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, to brief them on the developments towards securing the release of their children.

“I am here to convey the sympathy of Mr. President and the entire federal cabinet to you the parents and families, as well as all other victims,” Olawale Rasheed, Wakili’s special adviser on media, had quoted him saying.

“As you are all aware, our military is having the upper hand in this sacred war. We believe by the grace of God that your children will return safely.”

The youth leader of the Chibok community was alleged to have also attended the meeting alongside some elders of the community.

But Allen Manasseh, director of publicity, Kibaku area development association, said the minister only invited his relatives from Damboa local government area of the state.

“Mohammed Wakil should bury his head in shame,” Manasseh said in a statement issued on Friday.

“He should stop deceiving Nigerians on what he has never done. He was never in any meeting with any parent of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls but some displaced people from Damboa local government, his local government.

“Ever since our people kept suffering and are still languishing under the effects of terrorism, he never for once came anywhere near us. He never shows sympathy for our situation.”

The same Thursday that Wakil said he met with relatives of the abducted girls, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, visited Chibok to lay the foundation for the remodelling of Government Secondary School, Chibok, destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents during the abduction of about 276 students from the school.