Do Not Treat Dapchi Missing School Girls Like Chibok Girls - Senate Warns FG

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Do Not Treat Dapchi Missing School Girls Like Chibok Girls - Senate Warns FG

Punch Metro has shown that the Senate has warned against treating the Boko Haram attack on Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, like the case of the Chibok girls.

The warning followed the adoption of a motion at the plenary on Thursday which was moved by Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe East) on the attack, where 94 students were declared missing out of which 48 had been found as of Wednesday night.

Boko Haram had attacked Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014, where about 200 pupils were abducted and over half of them had either escaped or released, while others have remained in captivity.

The upper chamber also said there was a “resurgence” of attacks by Boko Haram, which was linked to payment of ransome to the terrorist group.

Granting payers of the motion, the lawmakers unanimously resolved to “condemn the attack on the school and resurgence of the insurgency” and urged the Federal Government to “urgently rescue the girls and not repeat the Chibok girls’ experience.”

Speaking on the motion, Senator Joshua Lidani stated that the Chibok girls incidence should have taught Nigeria the lesson that schools are a major target of the insurgents. He decried that the Federal Government had continued to pay ransome to Boko Haram to secure release of captives, thereby empoweing the terrorist group.

Lidani said, “We have observed of recent that this spate of kidnapping happens whenever Boko Haram members are being severely attacked or are on the run. They devise a means of going to abduct people so that they would negotiate with the Federal Government for ransom.

“It happened with the recent abduction of some University of Maiduguri staff that were on an exploration mission. The government negotiated with them (insurgents) and they got money. Now, they have been empowered. Even on police officers’ wives, the Federal Government went and negotiated with them and they were given money.

“We need to be very proactive in this case because the idea of sitting down and always negotiating and paying ransom; we are empowering Boko Haram to continue to do more. This may not be the end of it because after this, if they have abducted these girls, they will demand ransom and if the ransom is paid, it means they would continue to engage in this.”

Lidani urged President Muhammadu Buhari to do more by visiting the scenes and victims of attacks to show empathy.

Source: PunchNg

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The News Of Rescued Dapchi Missing School Girls By Soldiers Are Lies - Yobe Governor

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The News Of  Rescued Dapchi Missing School Girls By Soldiers Are Lies - Yobe Governor

Governor Ibrahim Gaidam

Ibrahim Gaidam, Governor of Yobe state, says none of the students of Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe state, in captivity of suspected Boko Haram insurgents, has been rescued.

The insurgents raided the school on Monday and abducted some of the students. The government had initially said it was not sure if any student was kidnapped but Gaidam confirmed the abduction on Wednesday night.

However, he said the army had been able to secure the release some of the girls, even though he did not go into details.

“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 governor had said in a statement which Abdullahi Bego, his spokesman, issued on his behalf.

“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.”

But speaking when he visited community on Thursday, Gaidam told family members of the students to keep praying that the girls should be found.

Abdul Dapchi, a resident, said Gaidam lost control of the crowd immediately he made the confession.

“We were all angry. How could they have deceived us all along?” asked the young man who said two of his sisters were among the captives.

Photos: Lai Mohammed, others visit GGST College in Dapchi

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Photos: Lai Mohammed, others visit GGST College in Dapchi

Anger erupted in a town in remote northeast Nigeria on February 22 after officials fumbled to account for scores of schoolgirls from the college who locals say have been kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists. 

Police said on February 21 that 111 girls from the college were unaccounted for following a jihadist raid late on February 19. Hours later, Abdullahi Bego, spokesman for Yobe state governor Ibrahim Gaidam, said “some of the girls” had been rescued by troops “from the terrorists who abducted them”.

But on a visit to Dapchi on Thursday, Gaidam appeared to question whether there had been any abduction.

Hassana Mohammed, 13, who scaled a fence to escape an alleged Boko Haram attack on her Government Girls Science and Technical College, stands outside her home in Dapchi, Nigeria, on February 22, 2018. 

/ AFP PHOTO /

Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gidan (R) speaks with Information Minister Lai Mohammed (C) and the head of the military force fighting Boko Haram, Brigadier General Rogers Nicholas, on the premises of the Government Girls Science and Technical College, in Dapchi, Nigeria, on February 22, 2018.

Soldiers (R) drive past a signpost leading to the Government Girls Science and Technical College staff quarters in Dapchi, Nigeria, on February 22, 2018.

Sandals are strewn in the yard of the Government Girls Science and Technical College staff quarters in Dapchi, Nigeria, on February 22, 2018. Sandals are strewn in the yard of the Government Girls Science and Technical College staff quarters in Dapchi, Nigeria, on February 22, 2018.

Source: VanguardNg

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