190 schoolgirls remain missing, not 77 – Principal

The Custodian April 22, 2014

About 190 schoolgirls remain missing after being abducted last week by Boko Haram insurgents, their head teacher, Asabe Kwabura, told the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday.

She said the parents of 230 girls had reported them missing but that 40 had managed to escape from the insurgents.

The 190 figure is far more than   the 77 given earlier by government officials.

The Associated Press had reported that parents of the pupils of Government Secondary School, Chibok told Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima when he visited on Monday, that 234 girls were abducted.

When news first emerged of the kidnap last Tuesday, initial reports said more than 200 students were abducted, but state officials said the correct figure was about 130.

The students, aged between 16 and 18 were about to sit their final year examinations when the insurgents invaded their school.

Kwabura told the BBC Hausa service that about 40 fled their captors.

“None of these girls was rescued by the military; they managed to escape on their own from their abductors,” she said.

Asked about the conflicting reports on the number of students kidnapped, she said: “Only reports that come from us is the truth and based on the register we have on paper.”

She had previously called on the kidnappers to “have mercy on the students”.

Before visiting Chibok on Monday, Shettima said that eight more girls had escaped over the weekend, meaning a total 52 had fled.

One of the parents, Shettima Haruna, told Shettima that they had been having sleepless nights since the incident happened.

He added that at a time, they summoned courage to visit Sambisa Forest to search for the missing girls.

The parent said, “We want to seize this opportunity to thank you (governor) for the visit and for identifying with us in this sorrowful moment; but   we want to emphasise  that we are not happy with this development.In  as much as we continue to pray for the safe return of our daughters, we are appealing to the  government and  security operatives to please intensify the search  for  our missing innocent children.”

Another parent, Mallam Amos Chiroma, said they saw a lot of strange things at the forest while searching for their daughters.

He said, “When we were in the bushes of Sambisa, we came across different make -shift camps suspected to be deserted by the insurgents.”

The parents of the abducted girls, who could not hold back tears, appealed to the government to ensure that their abducted girls were freed.

Our correspondent in Borno State, who was in Chibok, observed that most of the school buildings were totally burnt down by the insurgents.

Shettima, who was equally moved to tears, promised that his government would deploy all human and material resources towards rescuing the girls.

He said, “They can burn physical structures but they cannot destroy our souls.  Patient is the ultimate solution to the problem and I will ask us to have patience. We will soon get over this,”

The confusion over the numbers comes after the military last week said that all but eight of the pupils had been rescued before withdrawing its claim a day later.

•FG probing B’Haram’s links to Al-Shabab, Al-Qaeda

 Meanwhile, the Federal Government has said it is looking into the links between the Boko Haram  and other international terror networks such as Al-Shabab and Al-Qaeda.

The Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, made this known while featuring on Channels Television programme monitored on Monday.

Obanikoro said the government had sought the cooperation of the international community in its bid to deal decisively with the Boko Haram menace.

He said that the successes recorded by security forces against the insurgents would  not have been possible without government’s consideration of the links between the  terror networks.

The minister said, “Seriously, we couldn’t have succeeded to this extent if that dimension was not considered. We are looking at that seriously and we are engaging the international community to ensure that that angle itself was dealt with.

“You know Al-Shabab, you know Al-Qaeda and you are aware of what had happened within our own area. We cannot isolate what happened in Mali from what is happening in Nigeria now.

“There is a lot to be done in terms of raising the standard of security along the borders, no doubt about that.”

The PUNCH had exclusively reported on Monday that Al-Shabab, which carried out the West Gate Mall attack in Kenya in September 2013, might have aided the Boko Haram attack on the Nyanya Motor Park near Abuja.

On the   abducted female students, the minister said   there should be an explanation for the reopening of their school which was closed by the Borno State Government.

•FG’s anti-terror war not convincing –APC

In Kwara State, the All Progressives Congress   called on the insurgents to free the abducted schoolgirls.

The party   also accused President Goodluck Jonathan of not genuinely interested in the welfare of Nigerians, especially the area that has to do with security.

The Interim National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known during the dedication of the multi-million naira St. Andrews’ Cathedral built by the Catholic Church in Irepodun Local Government Area.

The APC said recent statements credited to the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party and the alleged actions of Jonathan were enough to convince members of the APC and other Nigerians that the PDP was not telling all it knew about the insurgency.

It said, “The statement credited to the Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio, to the effect that President Jonathan should sack the three governors of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states is worrisome because it will give the PDP an advantage towards 2015.”