President to visit Chibok today

President Goodluck Jonathan will today Friday the 16th of May 2014 visit the north-eastern town where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted, officials have said.Nothing was seen of the girls for almost a month after they were taken from Chibok by Boko Haram militants.The president has come under pressure over his government's failure to rescue the girls, but has ruled out a swap.Oga at the top please be careful as you go to Chibok those boys are not smiling at all.
On Thursday, relatives of the girls called for their unconditional release.But the UK's Africa Minister Mark Simmonds said Mr Jonathan had "made it very clear that there will be no negotiation" at a meeting on Wednesday.
After visiting Chibok, President Jonathan will continue to Paris to take part in a summit convened by French President Francois Hollande to discuss Boko Haram.

The presidents of Nigeria's neighbours - Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad - are scheduled to attend the summit on Saturday, which will also include representatives from the UK, US and EU.

A statement said delegates at the meeting will "discuss fresh strategies for dealing with the security threat posed by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in west and Central Africa." Meanwhile, US officials on Thursday criticised the speed of Nigeria's response to the threat from Boko Haram.

Alice Friend, director for African affairs at the US defense department, said its security forces had been "slow to adapt with new strategies and new tactics." She also said the US was unable to offer aid to Nigeria's military because of "troubling" atrocities perpetrated by some units during operations against Boko Haram.

"We cannot ignore that Nigeria can be an extremely challenging partner to work with," Ms Friend said.
State of emergency


US drones and surveillance aircraft have been deployed to assist in the search for the schoolgirls, while the UK has sent a military team to the capital, Abuja, to work alongside US, French and Israeli experts.

The lower house of Nigeria's parliament, the House of Representatives, approved an extension of the state of emergency in the north-east states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa on Thursday.