Regardless of statements made by the Presidency denying a planned visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to Chibok, his advance team were spotted yesterday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.
The advance team of the president which comprises of protocol and security officials usually go ahead of the president to places which he is scheduled to visit.
According to reports, the team arrived the capital of Borno state on Thursday for reconnaissance and various other preparations, in the same manner they would in preparation for a visit by the president.
Information gathered reveal that the security team were briefed by the appropriate officials on arrival to Maiduguri and apparently considered the route to Chibok both by land and air unsafe for the Presidential visit.
The president's planned trip according to sources was supposed to be a secret visit that would take the nation by surprise as Nigerians would have been caught unawares.
According to sources, the president not only planned the trip, but also put in place every relevant notification in writing regarding his visit to Chibok, and now some officials to the Presidency are being blamed for leaking
the news to the public.
“The President did not only plan to visit; all the relevant apparatchik got official notifications in writing and through signals on the Chibok trip.
“All military formations and security agencies were also placed on the alert for a successful visit.
“Some RECCE guards and protocol officers had been deployed in Maiduguri ahead of the President’s arrival. Some of these guards and officials got to the Borno State capital at about noon on Thursday.
“In fact, the first batch of the team due for Chibok had been scheduled to depart by 6 am on Friday until they got a counter-directive early.” The source said.
The source also disclosed that the cancellation of the President's trip to Chibok was as a result of security challenges facing Borno state at the moment.
“The reality is that security challenges facing Borno State along the Chibok axis led to the cancellation of the secret mission.
“It was meant to be a secret mission like US President’s shuttle to either Iraq or Afghanistan. But some excited or overzealous officials in the Presidency bungled it with a leakage.”
“The military and security agencies did not want to underrate the intelligence network of Boko Haram which may lead to strike action by the insurgents during the visit.
“The mutiny in Maimalari Barracks made security agencies to be more circumspect about the trip too. In spite of the fact that calm has been returned to the cantonment, it is unwise to expose a Commander-In-Chief to any danger.”
A second source also disclosed that the absence of the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, who was officially away to the United Kingdom, might have also led to the cancellation of the President's planned trip, describing it as "untidy protocol wise" for President Jonathan to visit Borno state in the absence of the state governor.
The cancelled trip of the President has also led to outrage in the state amongst parents of the kidnapped chibok girls and other officials who had waited to receive President Jonathan on Friday in Chibok, but were later left disappointed when told he won't be showing up.
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