‘Rescue’ of kidnapped girls didn’t happen, Nigeria admits

NIGERIAN officials have apologised after falsely claiming to have rescued a group of schoolgirls taken in a mass abduction by Boko Haram on Monday.

Officials in northern Yobe State had claimed on Wednesday to have rescued at least 50 of the girls, in what they described as a “gallant” mission by the Nigerian army.

But late on Thursday night, they told families of the missing girls that there had in fact been no rescue at all, saying the claims had been based on “unreliable” information from security forces.

“We have now established that the information we relied on to make the statement was not credible,” said Abdullahi Bego, the Yobe state spokesman. “The Yobe state government apologises for that.”

The admission came amid claims from parents that four days after the initial kidnapping in the town of Dapchi, more than 100 girls remain unaccounted for. At least five parents who were present fainted with the shock upon being told at an official briefing that their daughters were still missing after all.

Kundiri Alhaji Bukar, told the BBC Hausa language service: “[The governor] said soldiers were dispatched but the military commander told him they could not locate the girls.”