The federal government says
contrary to the reported figure of 110, Boko Haram insurgents abducted 113
persons from Government Girls Secondary and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe
state.
Speaking at a press conference on
Sunday, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said the number comprised 111
students of the school and two other pupils from an unnamed primary school.
Shortly after the insurgents
raided the school on February 19, a federal government delegation had confirmed
that 110 pupils were unaccounted for.
At the time, there was no mention
of the two pupils, one of whom the minister said had gone to the college to sell
sachet water.
Speaking at the briefing in
Lagos, Mohammed, who also oversees the ministry of culture, said the difference
was as a result of misinformation from the school authority.
“That means one student was not
captured on the list of 110 abducted students that was compiled by the school,
on the basis of which the federal government gave the number of abducted
schoolgirls as 110,” he said.
“Also kidnapped were two other
persons, who are not students of the college. They include a primary school boy
who came to the school to sell pure water and another primary school girl. That
brings the total number of abducted persons on that day to 113.”
He said the two pupils were among
the 107 persons released by the insurgents on Wednesday, adding that: “Six
Dapchi schoolgirls are yet unaccounted for. All efforts will be made to secure
their release.”
TheCable had reported that five
of the six are said to be dead while one is in Boko Haram custody.
Leah Sharibu, the remaining
schoolgirl, was reportedly held back for refusing to denounce Christianity.
‘WHY THE INSURGENTS WERE ABLE TO
RETURN THE GIRLS WITHOUT HITCHES’
The minister said following talks
held between the federal government and Boko Haram, the insurgents decided to
return the girls to where they picked them from “as a goodwill gesture”.
He said: “All they demanded was a
ceasefire that will grant them a safe corridor to drop the girls.
“This is not new. Even in larger
war situations, safe corridors are usually created for humanitarian and other
purposes.
“Consequently, a week-long
ceasefire was declared, starting from Monday, 19 March. That is why the
insurgents were able to drop the girls.
“This counters the conspiracy
theories being propounded in some quarters concerning why it was so easy for
the insurgents to drop off the girls without being attacked by the military.”
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Who's fooling who. The lies are not coherent. The so called insurgents we were told took these girls in the night and our minister of lies is telling us that two other kids selling pure water to students who were sleeping were also among those taken. The truth must be exposed very soon.
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