Six days after attack Nigerian govt puts number of missing Dapchi schoolgirls at 110

Six days after the Boko Haram terrorist sect attacked the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State and abducted some female students, the Federal Government has put the number of those abducted at 110 students.

The girls have remained missing after their school was invaded on Monday, February 19, by insurgents believed to be from a faction of Boko Haram.

There were conflicting figures as to the actual figure of girls taken by the terrorists, as the state and federal government’s were seemingly unable to give a clear picture days after the attack.

The state government had even told the world that some of the girls had been rescued, only to later recant itself, even as the federal government officials stated that the girls were not kidnapped, but had run into the bushes.

Earlier on Thursday, a support group set up by parents of the victims had announced that 105 girls were abducted. The group also later released the names of the 105 girls.

But in a statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, released by his Special Assistant, Segun Adeyem, the minister put the names of the missing girls at 110.

The statement disclosed that the figure as announced by the Federal Government was sequel to a meeting between a Federal Government delegation and representatives of key stakeholders, including the state government, the college, the parents, security agencies and Bursari Local Government, where Dapchi is situated, in Damaturu on Sunday.

Mohammed said, based on the briefings from the principal of the College, Hajia Adama Abdulkarim, and the state Commissioner for Education, Hon. Mohammed Lami, 110 students – out of whom 906 have not been accounted for – were in the school on the day of the attack.”

Mohammed also announced that the Federal Government has directed the police and civil defence authorities in Yobe State to immediately deploy their personnel to all the schools in the state in order to ensure the security and safety of the students and their staffers.

The minister further disclosed that the Federal Government has stepped up efforts to rescue the girls and return them safely to their parents, saying the security agencies are working on many leads regarding the whereabouts of the girls.

”This is the second time in four days that a Federal Government delegation would visit Yobe State since the unfortunate incident. This is a measure of the seriousness with which we are addressing the issue. The security forces are leaving no stone unturned in their search for the girls”.

For his part, the Minister of Interior said the delegation embarked on the trip in order to get the facts right ”so that the approach to the solution can be correct”.

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”We must get back the girls and also ensure that this does not happen again,” he said.

The Federal Government delegation, which comprised the Ministers of Information and Culture as well as that of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retired), held an enlarged meeting that was attended by Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State; members of the state cabinet, the Principal and Vice Principal of the school, representatives of the parents of the missing girls and security agencies, among others.

 

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