The Yobe state government, on Wednesday, claimed that the missing 94 girls from the Government Girls Science and Technical Secondary School in Dapchi, have been rescued by gallant officers and men of the Nigerian Army.
Suspected Boko Haram insurgents had, on Monday evening, stormed the GGSTC Dapchi and reportedly carted away foodstuff and other valuables before kidnapping some of the girls at the school, according to witnesses.
Abdullahi Bego, the Director-General, Press Affairs to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, said the rescued girls are now in the custody of the Nigerian Army.
Mr Bego extended his principal’s appreciation to the Nigerian army for the gallantry and hard work involved in the operation.
However, in a swift reaction, the Defence Headquarters has told PREMIUM TIMES it has no such information. “We cannot confirm” the statement by Yobe State that some of the girls have been rescued, Defence spokesperson, John Agim, a brigadier general, said Thursday morning.
However, recall that some section of the media on Wednesday, quoted the state commissioner of education, Mohammed Lamin, as saying that 48 out of the missing ninety-four students have returned.
He said that while 28 of the missing students returned on Tuesday night, 20 more returned on Wednesday morning.
His words, “This has brought down the 94 missing students realised at the yesterday headcount to 48 this morning.
“We are still hopeful that more are returning soon”, he said.
However, the State Police on Tuesday disclosed that no life was lost in the attack.
Speaking to newsmen, the Yobe state Commissioner of Police, Abdulmaliki Sumonu revealed that there has so far not been any report of the abduction of any of the girls in the school.
“We are still collecting the details on the attack, census of the girls and the general public,” he said.
Mr Sumonu told newsmen in Yobe that three males were later abducted by the insurgents in a remote community in Geidam Local Government Area after the attack on Dapchi.
However, when parents and teachers conducted a headcount yesterday, it was discovered that 94 of the girls were missing.
