Parents and guardians of the missing school girls in Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State broke into tears when Governor Ibrahim Gaidam visited them without saying a word on the whereabouts of the girls. Addressing the parents 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.”
He assured that government and security operatives would not rest on their oars until the missing girls were accounted for. The waiting parents wept profusely as the earlier news that the girls were rescued turned out to be false.
The Yobe State Government, on Wednesday, issued a statement claiming some of the missing girls had been rescued. Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had appealed to parents and guardians for additional time to search for the missing school girls.
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 school girls would be determined in the next few days when parents come forward with complaint of their missing wards.
Meanwhile, the Yobe State Government has apologised for a false report it released stating that some of the missing school girls from the state had been rescued.
At least 30 girls of the Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) Dapchi, were still missing as at Wednesday evening, three days after their school was attacked by suspected Boko Haram members.
A government statement late on Wednesday stated that many of the missing girls had been freed by soldiers, a statement that turned out false.
The state government released the statement below yesterday evening to apologise for the misinformation.
“The public may recall that we issued a statement last 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.
His Excellency Governor Ibrahim Gaidam was in Dapchi today where he met with community leaders and the Principal and staff of the Girls’ College. The governor also addressed the parents of some of the school girls that are still unaccounted for where he told them to pray and exercise patience as the government and security agencies at all levels continue the work to address the unfortunate situation.
His Excellency Governor Gaidam has also directed 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.
His Excellency Governor Gaidam shares deeply and personally in the grief about the unfortunate event at the Girls’ College and, under his leadership, the Yobe State Government will continue to do everything necessary in partnership with security agencies and the federal government to address the situation”.
In another development, Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has expressed concern over the reported abduction of 94 pupils of the Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, appealing to the Federal Government to ensure that the remaining girls are found and stop lying to Nigerians that the Boko Haram insurgency had been “completely defeated.”
The governor, who also described the new report by Transparency International (TI) revealing that the perception of corruption in Nigeria worsened between 2016 and 2017, as another vindication of his position that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President Muhammadu Buhari was not fighting any corruption, adding that “Transparency International only confirmed what I have said before that President Buhari is only hiding under anti-corruption fight to harass his perceived political foes while protecting corrupt people in his government.”
In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti yesterday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said it was painful that despite the earlier claim by the Federal Government that Boko Haram was “technically defeated” and the latest one that the insurgency was “completely defeated”, 94 students could be abducted in Yobe State in just one day.
He said; “My heart goes to those 46 students that are yet to be found and I urge the federal government as well as the Yobe State government to do all within their powers to bring the students back to their families.
“Most importantly, the Federal Government should stop lying concerning the fight against Boko Haram insurgents because it has now become the tradition that whenever the government boasts of defeating the insurgents, greater havoc is wreaked on the country.”
On the Transparency International annual Corruption Perception Index, which ranked Nigeria 148 out of 180 countries assessed in 2017, showing deterioration in perception of corruption in public administration in Nigeria compared to 2016, Governor Fayose said: “Transparency International has placed a question mark on the President’s claim to integrity.”
“Fact is that President Buhari is presiding over the worse form of corruption in the history of Nigeria and the good thing is that despite their propaganda, they have not been able hide the rot in their government from the eagle eyes of international organisations like the Transparency International.
“In the last few months, Nigerians have been confronted with messy revelations like the fraudulent reinstatement of Abdullahi Maina, alleged award of $25 billion contracts without following due process, Attorney-General of the Federation’s declaration that the EFCC lacked evidence to prove its allegations of sharp practices against prominent players in the Malabu Oil deal, alleged re-looting of exotic properties recovered from alleged looters of Pension Funds, among others.
“Even the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu was indicted by the DSS for corruption. “Therefore, the reality as revealed by the Transparency International is that the federal government under President Buhari is using APC broom to sweep corruption involving top functionaries of the government under the carpet while setting the lion after opposition figures even on mere rumour of corruption.”
Also, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar ýhas reacted to the abduction of High school girls by Boko Haram insurgents from Government Secondary School, Dapchi.
Our correspondent had reported that 48 girls out of 94 missing after Boko Haram attack in the school returned.
Reacting to the sad incident, Atiku while calling on Nigerians to support the parents of the victims prayed for their safety.
The former Vice President on his twitter page wrote, “My heart and prayers are with the#DapchiGirls who are missing and their families.
“Let’s give our unconditional support to them and to the agencies and security forces who are working to find them. There is nothing that should unify us more than the safe return of these children.”
In the same vein, the Senate yesterday charged the federal government to beef-up security in the country, just as it equally urged it to rescue the abducted students of the Government Girls’ Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State to avoid the repetition of what happened in 2014, Chibok Girls, newsmen report.
This was made known to newsmen in yesterday’s plenary session. According to Sen Bukar Abba who cited orders 42 & 52, said on Monday, “Boko Haram attacked Government Girls’ Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State and as at this morning 46 girls are missing.
In his contribution, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said “Boko Haram now sees young girls as targets, we need to be extra careful and we need to take extra measures in protecting our schools especially our female schools.”
Reacting to the statements of Sen Bukar, Senator Hassa Mohammed opined, “There are no actual numbers of the girls missing, the police have their numbers and the school has a different number. The state Government has failed in performing the basic duties of protecting lives and properties.”
The Senate condemned the attack on the school and re-insurgence of Boko Haram; and urged the Federal Government to urgently recover the girls to avoid a repeat of what happened to the Chibok girls.