A total of 110 students of Government Girls Technical School, Dapchi, Yobe State, were missing, the Federal Government Saturday confirmed.
Government’s confirmation came barely 24 hours after parents of the missing students gave a figure of 105.
Boko Haram insurgents had attacked the school last Monday night, taking away some of the students, whose number had now been confirmed to be 110.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, gave the confirmation after meeting with Governor Ibrahim Geidam, parents of the students, security agents, officials of Bursari local government area and authorities of the school at Government House, Damaturu.
Mohammed and Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau, Minister of Interior, had arrived Damaturu as members of the second Federal Government delegation to the state, with the Information Minister earlier on Thursday on the first delegation to the location of the school at Dapchi.
‘110 girls unaccounted for’
After the meeting with the stakeholders, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in a statement issued by his media aide, said:
“The Federal Government has confirmed that 110 students of the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, are so far unaccounted for, after insurgents believed to be from a faction of Boko Haram invaded their school on Monday, February 19.
“Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, announced the figure after a meeting between a Federal Government delegation and representatives of key stakeholders, including the state government, the college, the parents, security agencies and Bursari Local Government, where Dapchi is situated, in Damaturu on Sunday.
“He said, based on the briefings from the principal of the college, Adama Abdulkarim, and Mohammed Lamin, the state Commissioner for Education, 906 students, out of whom 110 have not been accounted for, were in the school on the day of the attack.
“Mr. Mohammed also announced that the Federal Government has directed the police and civil defence authorities in Yobe State to immediately deploy their personnel to all schools in the state in order to ensure security and safety of students and their staff.
“The minister disclosed that the Federal Government has stepped up efforts to rescue the girls and return them safely to their parents, and that security agencies are working on many leads regarding the whereabouts of the girls.
“This is the second time in four days that a Federal Government delegation would visit Yobe State since the unfortunate incident. This is a measure of the seriousness with which we are addressing the issue. The security forces are leaving no stone unturned in their search for the girls.
“We are back here in Yobe as part of efforts to provide some succour to the parents of the girls, to let them know that they are not alone and also to reassure them that we will not rest until we have found the girls. We will carry the parents along on the efforts we are making.”
Speaking after the meeting, Minister of Interior, Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau, retd, said the delegation embarked on the trip in order to get the facts right, so the approach to the solution could be correct.
”We must get back the girls and also ensure that this does not happen again,” Dambazau said.
