Lagos - Nigeria's president Muhammadu Buhari has met for the first time with the parents of 110 school girls who were abducted from their school three weeks ago.
Buhari told the parents that his government believes it is safer to negotiate for the release of the girls than to attempt a rescue.
He said on Wednesday that negotiation "will not endanger the lives of our young girls who are in harm's way".
The jihadist group Boko Haram is believed to be responsible for the attack in Yobe state.
Boko Haram was responsible for the 2014 abduction of more than 270 girls in neighboring Borno State. About 100 of the victims still remain with their captors nearly four years later.