Parents of Yobe schoolgirls weep over false hope
Parents of the missing Yobe schoolgirls wept yesterday after the state governor Ibrahim Gaidam retracted a statement earlier issued by the state that some of the girls had been rescued by soldiers.
Many of the parents had stormed the Government Girls Science and Technical College Dapchi as early as 5am hoping to reunite with their rescued daughters.
One of the parents, Malam Garba, told our reporter that he spent three days sleeping in the school premises waiting for his daughter to return.
“On the second day, we were given more hope to stay so as to return home happy with our daughter. I couldn’t sleep throughout yesterday, eagerly waiting to see her this morning, but the governor came with this distressing statement.
“This day is the darkest day to us, those who have their daughters at home would not know what we are going through. God have mercy on us and return our children safely,” he said.
Another parent, Malama Aisha Bukar, recalled that she was with her daughter during the last visiting day.
“We ate from the same plate; I hope it will not be the last. We no longer have hope because the least we expected is to hear lies,” she said.
One of the teachers in the school, whose 10-year-old daughter was among the missing, was seen crying profusely. Governor Gaidam, who was at the palace of the district head in Dapchi town to console parents and residents over the incidence, said “We should keep praying now that our able troops are in hot pursuit so that God reveals the whereabouts of the girls.
“We directed the soldiers and security personnel to go anywhere the girls were said to have been sighted and find them. I am together with the GOC, Brig-Gen Garba. His men went to places that the girls were said to have been sighted but, for the past two days, wherever the troops went, they were only told that it was a convoy of Boko Haram passing through the villages, but they didn’t see any girls.”
He said he is sure that the girls are scattered and cannot be sure whether they are lost or taken away.
The governor’s convoy was pelted by angry youths and parents after what they considered as false hope. Some vehicles in the governor’s convoy were destroyed.
The State Government has apologized over the misleading statement on the rescue of missing school girls by the Nigerian military.
A statement by the DirectorGeneral, Press Affairs and Information to the governor, Malam Abdullahi Bego, said the information they relied on to give the statement was not credible.
“We issued the statement on the basis of information provided by one of the security agencies that is involved in the fight against Boko Haram and which we had no reason to doubt. We have now established that the information we relied on to make the statement was not credible. The Yobe State Government apologises for that,” Bego said.
He also said that the governor has also directed Education Ministry officials and the school administration to work closely with the security agencies to establish the actual number of the girls that are still unaccounted for and to contact parents and the community for possible information that could be useful in the investigation.”
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the attack on the school was to embarrass the government and attract attention.
The minister, who spoke at fact finding visit to the GGSTC Dapchi, said with the determination of the gallant soldiers the days of Boko Haram is over.
On the case of the number of students being abducted, the minister said they have not been able to establish how many people were abducted.
Also talking to Daily Trust, a father said “I woke up with the hope to welcome my daughter. My wife passed out when we learnt that the news was false.”