Shock as Gov Gaidam recants rescue claims of abducted Yobe school girls

The issue of the over 100 school girls abducted in Dapchi in Benue State has been visited with a lot of controversies with the latest being the claim by the state Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, that none of the girls has been rescued yet.

The Boko Haram terrorists had on Monday abducted the girls after attacking their school, Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State.

But the report on the girls as contained in a statement signed by Abdullahi Bego, the Director-General, Press Affairs to Governor Gaidam, late Wednesday, claimed that some of the girls were rescued and were in the custody of the Nigerian Army.

The statement had stated, that “some of the girls at Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) whose school was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists last Monday have been rescued by gallant officers and men of the Nigerian Army from the terrorists who abducted them.

“The rescued girls are now in the custody of the Nigerian Army. We will provide more details about their number and condition in due course. His Excellency, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, who is very grateful for the gallantry and hard work of the officers and men of the Nigerian Army involved in the operation, is monitoring the situation closely and will make a statement in due course.”

Another report from the state claimed that two dead bodies of the missing Dapchi schoolgirls have been recovered by the Nigerian military during rescue operation on Wednesday.

There are report that the Nigerian military had rescued 76 of the schoolgirls, while another report put the number of girls rescued by the Nigerian Army at 68 and that 111 of the girls were still missing.

However, after visiting Dapchi town on Thursday, the governor faulted the story that some of the girls have been rescued.

READ ALSO: YOBE ATTACK: Reactions, conflicting accounts on ‘missing girls’ as Buhari orders military takeover of school

According to the governor, none of the abducted girls has been rescued.

Abdul Dapchi, a resident of the area, who spoke to newsmen, said that the people of his community are in total shock to hear the governor reveal that none of the girls have been rescued yet.

Noting that his two sisters were among the abducted girls, he said, “We were all angry. How could they have deceived us all along?”

According to him, the governor pleaded with them to keep praying to God for the release of the girls.

Meanwhile, the Senate on Thursday warned against treating the attack in Yobe like the case of the Chibok girls in Borno State.

The warning came after the lawmakers adopted a motion at the plenary on Thursday which was moved by Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe East).

 

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