The Federal Government has set up a12-member committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the recent abduction of 110 students in Yobe State by Boko Haram fighters.
The committee was convened by the National Security Adviser, NSA, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, retd.
Lai Mohammed, the information minister, who stated this Tuesday, said the committee, to be chaired by a military officer of the rank of Major General, comprises one senior Provost each from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force; representatives of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA; Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA; Nigeria Police Force, NPF; Department of State Services, DSS; Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC; two representatives of Yobe State government and a representative of the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The terms of reference of the committee include ascertaining the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls, confirming the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security in Dapchi as well as in GGSTC before the incident and suggesting measures that can lead to the location and rescue of the girls.
The panel expected to submit its report on March 15, 2018 is also saddled with recommending measures to prevent future occurrence, while it will be inaugurated on February 28, 2018.
In a related development, the Federal Government Tuesday released the names and other details of the missing 110 girls of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, who were captured by Boko Haram insurgents, penultimate Monday.
This came as Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, asked the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, suspend the boarding school system in the North-East.
This is even as House of Representatives at Tuesday’s plenary, summoned service chiefs to brief it on the abduction of the girls.
Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, who stated this in a statement Tuesday in Abuja, said the list was handed over to the federal government by Yobe State government.
The list indicated that of the 110 missing girls, 8 are in JSS1, 17 in JSS2, 12 in JSS3, 40 in SS1, 19 in SS2 and 14 in SS3. The girls’ ages range from 11 to 19 years.
The list, which also contains the contact address and phone number of each missing girl, was verified by a 26-member Screening Committee that included Musa Abdulsalam, the Executive Secretary, State Teaching Service Board; Shuaibu Bulama, Director, Schools’ Management, Ministry of Education; Adama Abdulkarim, Principal of GGSTC; Ali Musa Mabu and Abdullahi Sule Lampo, the two vice principals; Bashir Ali Yerima, Admission Officer, and the form masters for all the classes.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has relocated to Yobe State to personally superintend the search for the girls.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had earlier deployed more platforms to the North East for the search, as the security agencies ramp up their efforts to locate and rescue the girls.
As at 6 p.m.on Monday, the NAF had flown a total of 200 hours while conducting the search.
