We still have conflicting figures of abducted girls, says FG
• Fayose alleges fight against Boko Haram now a business venture • Air Force denies deploying 100 aircraft for search of students • ‘Media responsible for parents’ withdrawal of students over abduction
THE Federal Government has said that there are still conflicting figures on the actual number of students abducted by the Boko Haram terrorists from Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State.
National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), stated this yesterday while inaugurating a 12- man probe committee to unravel the circumstances leading to the kidnap of the schoolgirls.
Monguno, who tasked the committee not only to unravel the actual number of abducted girls but also their identity, said: “The committee is to determine the exact number of persons abducted alongside their identity 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.
“You are to commence sitting immediately and submit your report to me in two weeks’ time.”
However, Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has in a statement issued yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, alleged that Boko Haram insurgency has become source of indirect treasury looting, saying that those benefitting from Internally-displaced Persons (IDPS) scams and payment of ransom (in dollars) to free those abducted by the insurgents will never wish to see the end of the insurgency.
In another development, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has again urged the Executive to ensure that all available methods are deployed to rescue the 110 girls kidnapped from their school in Dapchi, Yobe State.
Dogara, who spoke when he received a delegation from the National Council For Women Societies (NCWS) in his office, assured that the National Assembly is doing all within its powers to improve the lot of Nigerian women.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has denied media report that it had deployed 100 aircraft for the search of the missing girls.
A statement issued in Abuja yesterday by Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, said the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno (rtd) in company of the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, only spoke about the number of sorties the NAF had conducted in the course of searching for the missing girls.
In a similar vein, the Commissioner for Education in Yobe State, Alhaji Mohammed Lamin, has said that the media are responsible for parents’ withdrawal of students from GGSTC, Dapchi, after the abduction of 110 schoolgirls by Boko Haram.
Also, the Secretary-general of the United Nations (UN), Mr. Antonio Guterres, has condemned the abduction of the Yobe girls.
Besides, an international organisation, Global Partnership for Education, Washington DC, chaired by Julia Gillard, has declared its readiness to support the government in the release of the Dapchi girls.