Nigerian president meets parents of girls abducted by Boko Haram

President Goodluck Jonathan met for the first time Tuesday with parents of 219 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls and dozens of classmates who managed to escape after being kidnapped by armed group Boko Haram.

Jonathan assured them of his determination that those still in captivity "are brought out alive," presidential spokesman Reuben Abati told reporters after the meeting. Some of the girls described their escapes and Jonathan gave assurances that the education of the girls and their still-captive classmates would not suffer in any way, he said.

"Mr. President reassured them of the federal government determination and his personal determination to ensure that the girls that are still in captivity are brought out alive. He made it clear that is the main objective of the government," said Abati.

At least 11 of the parents have died since the kidnappings — seven in a village attack this month and four of heart attacks and other illnesses that the Chibok community blames on the trauma, according to residents.

"One father of two of the girls kidnapped just went into a kind of coma and kept repeating the names of his daughters, until life left him," community leader Pogu Bitrus told the Associated Press.

Boko Haram, which attacks civilians indiscriminately and is believed responsible for thousands of deaths in Nigeria, wants to create a state in the northeast of the country ruled by Sharia law.

Parents emerged from the closed-door meeting with Jonathan without showing emotion, but some shook hands with the president. Some of the escaped schoolgirls smiled for photographers after the meeting. Journalists, however, were prevented by Nigerian security from speaking to the girls and their parents.

A delegation of 177 people met with Jonathan, said Lawan Abana, spokesman for the community of Chibok, the town where the schoolgirls were kidnapped. 

Jonathan was accompanied in the meeting by the ministers of education and finance, and his national security adviser. Also present was the Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno state, from which the girls were abducted. Shettima has accused Jonathan of not doing enough to save the girls and has angered the government with his charges that Boko Haram fighters are better armed and motivated than Nigeria's military.

Tuesday's meeting came after some parents refused to meet Nigeria's leader last week. Jonathan at the time accused activists of “playing politics” by persuading families to snub him.

For months the parents have been asking to see the president and he finally agreed to a request from Pakistani girls education activist Malala Yousafzai, who had met with the parents.

Some of the parents and community leaders of Chibok have made public statements urging Jonathan to negotiate with the girls' captors. Boko Haram is demanding a swap for detained fighters in exchange for the girls. So far, Jonathan has refused.

Nigeria's Defense Ministry, also criticized for not quickly rescuing the girls, has said that it knows where they are being held but that it fears any military campaign could get them killed.

Before Tuesday, Jonathan had never before met with the parents or the escaped girls, though he insists repeatedly that "my priority is the return of these girls." In May, he canceled a planned trip to Chibok without explanation.

Following the kidnappings, Boko Haram filmed a video in which they threatened to sell the students into slavery and as child brides. The group also showed a couple of the girls describing their "conversion" from Christianity to Islam.

At least two of the girls have died of snake bites, a mediator who was liaising with Boko Haram told AP two months ago. At that time he said at least 20 of the girls were ill.

Most of the schoolgirls are still believed to be held in the Sambisa Forest — a wildlife reserve that includes almost impenetrably thick jungle as well as more open savannah. The forest borders on sand dunes marking the edge of the Sahara Desert. Sightings of the girls and their captors have been reported in neighboring Cameroon and Chad.

Wire services