Confusion has continued to trail the whereabouts of nearly 50 out of 94 students of Government Girls Science and Technical Secondary School in Dapchi, Yobe State that went missing after terrorists struck there Monday.
A federal government delegation is on its way there as senior police officers were unsure if the girls were abducted or were hiding in surrounding bushes and villages they ran into.
President Muhammadu Buhari said on his Twitter handle: ” I have directed the Military and Police to mobilize immediately to ensure that all the missing girls of Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, are found. The Minister of Defence will also lead a Federal Government delegation to Yobe tomorrow, to ascertain the situation.”
The State Government in a statement
Abdullahi Bego, the Director-General Press Affairs to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam said that following the incursion of suspected Boko Haram terrorists into Dapchi, headquarters of Bursari Local Government Council and the Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) there, the Yobe State Government is working with the Nigerian Army and other security and law enforcement agencies to ensure that all students in the school are fully accounted for.
“As the public is aware, the students were helped by their teachers to escape through the night to the surrounding bushes and villages as the terrorists stormed the town last Monday.
“Out of the 926 students in the school, over 50 are still unaccounted for as of the time of this statement.
“However, the Yobe State Government has continued to receive information about some of the girls being found in the general area to which they escaped.
“The State Government is coordinating with the army and law enforcement to ensure that those girls are returned safely.
“The Yobe State Government has no credible information yet as to whether any of the schoolgirls was taken hostage by the terrorists.”
Bego added that the deeply saddened and outraged Gaidam has directed that all relevant personnel and agencies work closely with the army and other security organisations to address the situation.
The Government assures parents and the school community that it will do everything necessary to ensure that all the missing girls are found and returned to their school and families and that security is improved in the area.