According to a report by SaharaReporters, many parents and school
authorities have revealed that at least 94 school girls from Government
Girls Science and Technical Secondary School at Dapchi town in Bursari
local government area of Yobe state are missing after an all-girls
school was attacked by Islamist militant group, Boko Haram.
The militants invaded the town on Monday and targeted the all-girls
school after arriving the town around 7 pm with over 18 gun trucks. A
community source told Saharareporters that at least four bodies of
students were recovered from the bush in the nearby town of Kusur.
Although the raid happened on Monday, the school authorities and
parents waited to do a head count of the students to be sure of the
exact situation.
According to residents of the community, Boko Haram terrorists
came into Dapchi town with trucks mounted with high caliber weapons
shooting sporadically and later headed to the girls’ hostels at the
school where some 740 girls were resident. The sound from the sect’s
militants explosives and gunshots alerted the students and their
teachers who immediately scampered into nearby bushes for safety.
However, after the headcount on Tuesday, it was discovered that at
least 94 of the girls were still missing. The school was immediately
closed down while education authorities and security forces in the state
began efforts to locate the missing students.
Residents and civilian militia groups in Dapchi say they believe
Boko Haram had carefully planned to kidnap schoolgirls in their town
over some time. A week before the attack soldiers protecting the town
were moved elsewhere leaving the town vulnerable. Nigerian security
forces backed by military jets later arrived Dapchi and “chased away”
the terrorists who had continued on a looting spree.
Nigerian military sources are unusually silent about latest claims
by parents that the girls might have been abducted after Monday night
raid. A military source last night told Saharareporters that they could
not confirm or deny if the missing girls were abducted.
In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped more than 270 girls from a
school in the northeastern town of Chibok in Borno state sparking global
outrage that birthed the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. In September
2017, some 100 Chibok girls were reunited with their families after the
Nigerian government shelled out over €2 million in ransom payments to
Boko Haram terrorists. The deal also included a controversial prisoner
swap deal with the Nigerian government that saw five Boko Haram top
commanders released.
More than 100 schoolgirls remain in the custody of Boko Haram
terrorists who are believed to be using them to negotiate for more cash
and release of top terrorist commanders in the custody of Nigerian
authorities.