President hasn’t given up on Chibok girls,’ Kachikwu says

The minister made the comments while speaking to CNN’s Richard Quest on “Quest Means Business” on Monday, August 15, 2016.

“Not quite so, at all. On the contrary, since President Muhammadu Buhari resumed, I think his first steps were targeted at the northeast and the Chibok girls,” Kachikwu said.

“If you remember, most of his first state visits were to neighbouring countries, trying to gather alignment among neighbouring countries military forces in fighting this issue, and the military has been engaged in that territory.

“One of the crises the president had to inherit, was the fact that once he came in, he found that monies that were allocated to the military to be able to deal with these issues, were largely diverted, and he spent a lot of time trying to find funds.

“He first had to deal with that problem, but once he dealt with that, the army has got more brisk in its business, however, we haven’t found the girls and it’s sorrowful for every Nigerian who thinks about it.

“I have children, the last thing I want is for people’s children to be in the forest abandoned, and we are doing everything we can, I sympathise with all parents who are in this situation, but the president hasn’t given upon this,” he added.

The over 200 girls were abducted by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014, and most of them remain in captivity.

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The Chibok girls’ plight gained fresh attention on Sunday, August 14, when Boko Haram released a video showing 50 of the girls.

The sect is demanding the release of its detained members in exchange for the girls.