Parents and guardians of the missing schoolgirls in Government Girls Technical College Dapchi, Yobe, broke into tears when Governor Ibrahim Gaidam visited them without saying a word on the whereabouts of the girls. Parents and guardians of the missing schoolgirls in Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe, broke into tears when Governor Ibrahim Gaidam visited them without saying a word on the whereabouts of the girls. Boko Haram insurgents attacked the school on Monday night. After the attack, 96 girls were declared missing. While less than 50 have so far returned, over 50 students are still missing. The waiting parents wept profusely as the earlier news that the girls were rescued turned out to be false.
The governor’s comments that they are still searching for the missing girls irked the youth who set up barricades and burnt tyres in the streets. The angry youth hurled missiles at the governor’s convoy while several vehicles had their windscreens smashed.
The angry youth were shouting “Bakayi Karyane (bring back) our 94 schoolgirls”. They accused the military and Yobe State government of telling lies about the rescue. A resident in Dapchi town, Alhaji Musa Gaji, said they want girls back. Hundreds of youths, women and parents of the abducted schoolgirls had embarked on peaceful demonstration on the road linking the town to the school premises before the arrival of the governor. Addressing the parents of some of the schoolgirls that are still unaccounted for at the District Head’s palace in Dapchi yesterday, the governor urged the parents to remain faithful as security operatives were still searching for the girls.
He said: “Soldiers have been pursuing the insurgents, although they receive information that the Boko Haram insurgents had passed some areas, but the communities in the areas said they did not spot the girls along with the insurgents.
“The girls scattered during the attack, and we can’t be sure whether they were lost or taken. We have no certainty that these boys (Boko Haram) took these girls. “Nobody saw these girls being taken in vehicles. It is possible some of the girls came across motorists and they gave them a ride to some places.” He assured that government and security operatives would not rest on their oars until the missing girls were accounted for.
The governor directed the Education Ministry officials and the school administration to work closely with the security agencies to establish the actual number of the girls that are still unaccounted for and to contact parents and the community for possible information that could be useful in the investigation. Meanwhile, Alhaji Abdullahi Bego, Director General to Yobe governor on Press affairs, in a statement yesterday, recanted on the rescue of the abducted schoolgirls by the Nigerian Army. The state government said it gave false report about the rescue of the girls.
Consequently, the state government apologised for the false news. Bego said: “The public may recall that we issued a statement last (Wednesday) night in which we announced that some of the girls at Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi who went missing after Boko Haram terrorists had stormed their school last Monday were rescued by officers and men of the Nigerian Army who are currently executing the war against the Boko Haram insurgents.
“We issued the statement on the basis of information provided by one of the security agencies that is involved in the fight against Boko Haram and which we had no reason to doubt. “We have now established that the information we relied on to make the statement was not credible. The Yobe State Government apologises for that.”
The Yobe Government, on Wednesday, issued a statement claiming that some of the missing girls had been rescued. Bego disclosed that the Nigerian Army had rescued some of the abducted girls. “The Yobe State Government hereby informs the public 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” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had appealed to parents and guardians for additional time to search for the missing schoolgirls. The minister made the appeal while fielding questions from newsmen when he led Federal Government delegation to Dapchi yesterday.
He said the actual number of the missing schoolgirls would be determined in the next few days when parents come forward with complaint of their missing wards. Also, the delegation of the European Union (EU) to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has condemned the abduction of some schoolgirls in Yobe State.
The EU, in a statement by its press officer, Mr. Modestus Chukwulaka, said: “Targeting children and abducting young girls as they seek to attend school is an attack on our common humanity. “The girls deserve freedom and a chance to shape their own future.”
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