Nigeria leader cancels trip to kidnapping site

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Amid apparent security concerns, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan canceled a trip Friday to the traumatized town where Islamic extremists abducted more than 300 schoolgirls a month ago. Angry parents said he showed no respect for their emotions.

It would have been the first reported visit by the president to the scene of an attack in the northeastern region that has suffered for five years the increasingly deadly assaults by Boko Haram. Jonathan, a Christian from the south, has been accused of insensitivity to the plight of the mainly Muslim northerners. Thousands have been killed over the years, and more than 1,500 civilians have died this year alone.

“This is really sad to most of us because we all thought he would come, and we are all thinking that his coming would give us better hope for our children’s freedom,” said one of the parents, who had been told to gather at the burned-out remains of the school to welcome Jonathan.

“But here we are being tossed up and down, people playing with our emotions,” he complained.

Boko Haram insurgents on April 15 abducted more than 300 students from the Chibok Government Girls Secondary School. Police say 53 managed to escape and 276 remain in captivity.

Two officials in the presidency confirmed the cancellation, saying there were apparent concerns about security after news of the planned trip was leaked to the media and published on front pages of newspapers Friday.