Boko Haram Attack: Parents Weep as 94 Female Students Go Missing in Yobe State
94 students have been declared missing from the Government Girls Secondary School Dapchi, Yobe State, following an attack by suspected Boko Haram members.
On Monday, Boko Haram members attacked the community where the school is located. The teachers and students fled into the bush.
A source in the school revealed that the number of missing students was realized after an afternoon roll call on the students, DailyTrust reports.
“After the roll call, 610 out the total number of 704 students have returned. We are still searching for the remaining 94 students”, he said.
We cannot say whether the students were abducted, because the insurgents went into the students hostel, and many of these students scaled fence to the bushes. Until final list of these students no one can tell if they are abducted or not.”
The source said some parents have also reported to the school authority that there children had reached their homes safely.
”And, we are calling on parents to help the school update its list by reporting immediately if their children arrived home safely.”
The State Commissioner of Education, who is outside the state on official assignment, said a competent team has been dispatched to the school.
Giving an update on the matter, Vanguard reported that 48 out of the 94 missing girls at Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) have been rescued while 46 others are still missing. The Yobe state government confirmed this in a statement released Wednesday night.
Read the statement from the state government announcing the return of 48 of the students below
”IMPORTANT PUBLIC INFORMATION UPDATE ON GGSTC DAPCHI STUDENTS
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.
Signed
Abdullahi Bego
Director-General Press Affairs to His Excellency Governor Ibrahim Gaidam.”
Governor Gaidam, later faulted the claim Vanguard reports. The Governor who visited Dapchi town yesterday, however, said, contrary to the claim, that no girl has been rescued yet.
Parents and guardians of the missing schoolgirls broke into tears when their Governor visited them without saying a word on the whereabouts of the remaining girls.
Addressing the parents at the District Head’s palace in Dapchi on Thursday, the governor urged the parents to remain faithful as security operatives were still searching for the girls.
“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.
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 on Thursday.
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.
May God comfort these families.