Nigeria Boko Haram Kidnap: President Jonathan Goodluck Cancels Visit to Chibok

Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan has cancelled his visit to the town of Chibok where 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram because of security concerns, according to a senior government source.

Jonathan will instead fly from the Nigerian capital of Abuja to Paris for a regional summit convened by French President Francois Hollande to discuss the Boko Haram problem and wider sub-Saharan Africa security issues, the source told Reuters.

This week the Islamist insurgents released a video which showed more than 100 of the schoolgirls before requesting an exchange for Boko Haram prisoners.

However, UK's Africa Minister Mark Simmonds has said that Jonathan "made it very clear that there will be no negotiation" with the terrorist group regarding a prisoner swap.

West African leaders from Benin, Cameron, Niger and Chad are to converge in Paris for the summit alongside British, American and European Union representatives.

A statement issued said the delegates will "discuss fresh strategies for dealing with the security threat posed by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in west and Central Africa".

The kidnap of the girls has ignited an international reaction which has seen the US, UK and France offering technical and intelligence expertise to the Nigeria government as well as an Israeli counter-terrorism team being deployed in the rescue effort.

Boko Haram insurgents want to convert Nigeria into a strict sharia state and over 1,500 people have been killed in attacks perpetrated by the group this year alone.