Ahead of SSCE, Dapchi Final Year Students to Relocate to Nguru
NSA inaugurates probe panel on girls’ abduction, FG directs IG, NSCDC boss to relocate to N’East UN expresses outrage over kidnapping
Final year students of the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State, will be temporarily relocated to Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSC), Nguru, in the same state, to enable them prepare for the forthcoming Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE), the Yobe State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Mohammed Lamin, has revealed.
Disclosing this yesterday in Damaturu, the state capital, he said the state government was making arrangements to transfer the SS3 students to GGSC, Nguru, to prepare for their exams coming up between March and April.
“We are right now making arrangements for the SS3 students to take them to GGSS Nguru, to prepare them for their examination which is coming up in March-April.
“The practical aspect of their exam will start around
that time, and we don’t want them to miss any part of their examinations,” he said.
The state had closed the school on February 20, following the abduction of 110 girls by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
Despite the trauma the families are experiencing, the commissioner believed life has to go on.
“Nguru is also a boarding school, but we are already taking steps to ensure security,” he was quoted by online news site, The Cable, as stating.
According to him, only SS3 girls of the over 900 students will be relocated for now.
The other students will remain with their parents until the government is able to solve the issues on the ground.
Nguru is further north, about 300 kilometres from Damaturu, while Dapchi is about 100 kilometres, from the state capital.
Meanwhile, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd.) yesterday inaugurated a 12-man committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the kidnap of the schoolgirls from the school in Dapchi by Boko Haram terrorists.
Addressing members of the committee, Mungonu said: “The abduction of the schoolgirls by the terrorists was a worrisome incident that requires deliberate, urgent and relentless efforts on the part of government.
“There have been conflicting reports from various quarters on the event that led to the abduction, the number of persons abducted, as well as their identities.
“This does not portray the country in a good light. There have also been reports, especially in the social media, which tend to support some level of inactivity by the relevant organisations.
“Therefore, there is a need to verify the circumstances surrounding the abduction of these girls from the school.”
The NSA went further to provide the terms of reference for the committee, saying it was expected to determine the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the students from the school on the 19th of February.
Other terms of reference include: to determine the exact number of persons abducted alongside their identities as there are conflicting reports in this regard; to confirm the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security emplaced in Dapchi, as well as the school itself before the incident; to ascertain the existing communications in Dapchi and their functionality; to suggest measures that can lead to the location and immediate rescue of the abducted girls; to recommend measures to be emplaced in preventing future occurrences; and any other details the committee may deem necessary.
Mungonu noted that considering the importance of the issue and the urgency required to promptly address the terms of reference and associated concerns, the panel was required to commence sitting immediately and submit its report to him in two weeks.
“I therefore implore members of the committee to be objective in their findings in order to address this ugly development. I must emphasis here also that there is a lot of cynicism outside in the
wider society.
“This is not the first time such incident has taken place. On the 14th of April 2014, a lot of girls were abducted from a secondary school in Chibok. A committee was set up by the previous administration to look into the circumstances that led to the abduction of those girls.
“What I want to emphasise to you is that this investigation has to be done with all the seriousness it deserves. This is not going to be another exercise in futility.
“We are using the money of tax payers to carry out this assignment and they are entitled to getting results for whatever this committee does.
“Again, the inclination to push things under the carpet, to be sympathetic to groups or organisations will not be tolerated.
“You must unravel everything. Where people are culpable, it should come out in your report,” he added.
He informed the committee that its report also will be followed by a white paper, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari was extremely concerned about the abduction, “which I have already told you, is beginning to cast a dark shadow on not just the administration but the country”.
“The truth of the matter is that security is all embracing. It is not just for agencies of government.
“There is always an interface between the wider society and security agencies, especially in the context of 21st century issues of insecurity. This time around, your work is going to permeate into the population not just in Yobe State, but probably in Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe States and so on and so forth.
“The basic motivation in this very exercise is to get results. I want results; this is not just going to be some theoretical paper or suggestions that will end up on someone’s desk without anything happening.
“We must let the people of Nigeria know that we have taken this incident with all the seriousness it requires and we are going to solve this problem.
“I wouldn’t want a situation whereby you are going to be suppressed by any individual, any group or organisation or agency because we are not going to allow anybody to cover up anything in this matter.
“These are people’s children, our children and we must be seen to be doing the right thing,” he said.
Speaking, the chairman of the committee, Real Admiral Victor Adedipe assured the NSA of the commitment of the members to ensure that the findings are authentic and unbiased.
Adedipe said that given the current plight of the families, the committee would do its best to unravel the circumstances that led to the kidnapping of the schoolgirls.
Police, NSCDC Bosses Head to N’East
Also, in furtherance of the government’s objective to secure the release of the girls as quickly as possible, the Minister of Interior, Lt.Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (rtd.) yesterday directed the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris and the Commandant General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr. Abdullahi Muhammadu Gana to relocate to the Northeast.
They would also be required to liaise with the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole and the governors of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States to ensure the deployment of their personnel in all schools in the liberated areas in the three states.
The minister, in a statement by his press secretary, Ehisienmen Osaigbovo, said: “This is sequel to the recent visit of the federal government delegation led by the Ministers of Interior and Information and Culture to Dapchi in Yobe State, where the interior minister, Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau (rtd.) directed the Inspector General of Police and the Commandant of the NSCDC to relocate to Yobe State to ensure security presence in all schools in the liberated communities.”
The minister said the directive was necessary to forestall a recurrence of attacks on innocent school children, stressing that the federal government was making efforts to rescue the Dapchi schoolgirls and other Boko Haram captives, as evidenced by the commencement of 24-hour air surveillance by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
Dambazau, said the statement, also condemned the recent clashes that resulted in the loss of lives and property in Kajuru LGA of Kaduna State and urged security operatives to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
The IG and NSCDC commander will be joining the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar who has already relocated to the NAF Base in Maiduguri, Borno State, where the air search operation for the missing Dapchi girls is being coordinated.
The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, in a statement yesterday, said: “The relocation of the air force chief was aimed at getting first hand information on the progress of the air search efforts and to also give additional directives as might be necessary.
“The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mohammed Monguno was equally at the NAF Base, Maiduguri, where he spoke to and encouraged the NAF personnel involved in the day and night air search operations.
“Furthermore, both the NSA and the CAS visited Damaturu, where they paid a courtesy call on Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State, during which they held useful discussions regarding the missing girls.
“Later in the day, the NSA, accompanied by the CAS and other top military officers, travelled to Monguno to commission new projects at 171 NAF Detachment Monguno.”
Adesanya quoted the CAS as stating that the projects were undertaken in pursuit of NAF’s commitment to ensuring security in the North-east.
“He added that the NAF would continue to deploy air assets in all parts of the country towards ensuring that Nigerians are able to prosecute their businesses in a safe and secure environment,” the statement said.
On the missing Dapchi girls, the air force chief was said to have declared that no efforts would be spared by NAF in locating the girls, in conjunction with other security forces.
He disclosed that NAF pilots on different platforms were operating day and night to locate the girls, adding that he had decided to temporarily relocate to Maiduguri, given the importance of the unfortunate incident.
Adesanya, in the statement, also debunked reports that NAF has deployed about 100 fighter jets for search of the
Dapchi schoolgirls, saying that what the air force had conducted were 100 sorties. UN Outrage
Even as the government and the security agencies ramped up efforts to rescue the girls, global reactions continued to pour in over their abduction, with the United Nations expressing outrage over the incident.
UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, said in a statement by his spokesperson, Mr. Stephane Dujarric, that he “strongly condemns the abduction and attack”.
Guterres said he was gravely concerned over the situation of the schoolgirls’ abducted during an attack on their educational institution in Dapchi.
The Secretary-General called for the immediate and unconditional release of all missing girls and for their safe return to their families.
The UN chief urged the Nigerian authorities to swiftly bring those responsible for this dastardly act to justice.
Guterres reiterated the solidarity and support of the UN to the Nigerian government and other affected countries in the region in their fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
The UN had earlier described the abduction as “another horrific incident where young women and girls are targeted by terror groups”.