Olusola Fabiyi, John Ameh, Olalekan Adetayo, Eniola Akinkuotu, Godwin Isenyo and Afeez Hanafi
The Federal Government has set up a 12-member committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of 110 pupils of the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19.
The committee was convened by the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), according to a statement on Tuesday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The statement said the committee, which would be chaired by a military officer of the rank of Major General, would comprise one senior Provost each from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force; representatives of the National Intelligence Agency; Defence Intelligence Agency; Nigeria Police Force; Department of State Services; Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps; two representatives of the Yobe State Government and a representative of the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The panel, which is expected to submit its report by March 15, 2018, is also saddled with recommending measures to prevent future occurrence.
The statement said the committee would be inaugurated on Wednesday (today).
The announcement of the setting up of the committee came a day after the main opposition political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, asked the National Assembly to probe the incident.
Reps order probe, summon service chiefs
The members also summoned service chiefs and heads of security agencies to give reports on the security situation in the country.
The investigation, to be conducted by an ad hoc committee, would be concluded within four weeks, the House resolved on Tuesday.
The decision was arrived at after the member representing Dapchi community in the House, Mr. Goni Bukar-Lawal, moved a motion on urgent public importance to bring the plight of the schoolgirls to the attention of the House.
The session, which was presided over by Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, called on the Federal Government to deploy adequate security might to ensure the rescue of the girls.
The resolution came as Dogara, in a strongly-worded statement, blamed the abduction on the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police for failing to perform their duties.
Leading the debate on the motion, Bukar-Lawal told the House that several abductions of pupils by Boko Haram in Yobe State had taken place in the past, but were not reported.
“Note that in 2014, 58 male pupils of the College of Agriculture, Buni Yadi in Yobe State, were murdered while they were asleep,” he added.
Bukar-Lawal informed the House that he was in Dapchi till 7am on the day of the schoolgirls’ abduction before travelling to Lagos.
He stated that he started receiving calls on the abduction immediately he alighted from an aircraft in Lagos.
Bukar-Lawal said, “There was military presence in the eight local government areas in Dapchi until one week to the attack.
“It was surprising to us that the military withdrew its men and one week after, there was an attack.
“In the school, there were over 900 students and the question we were asking is; why did they withdraw the military from Dapchi?
“When the insurgents came, they barricaded strategic locations; they even stationed a truck in front of my house.
“They went to the school and when they saw that the girls were running for safety, they told them not to worry.
“They deceived the girls, lying to them that they were Nigerian soldiers who came to take them to safety. That was how they lined them up and took them to their vehicles.”
“There are saboteurs in our security system.
“This is a big shame to Nigeria because this incident took a pattern that indicated that our security system is in a serious trouble,” he added.
On his part, a lawmaker from Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Henry Achibong, described the abduction as “the failure of government to cater for the citizenry.”
He also noted that it might be a diversion created by the government to take the attention of Nigerians away from the killings being carried out by the “rampaging” herdsmen.
Achibong said, “We were told that our military have practically defeated Boko Haram.
“How is it then possible that they could abduct this number of girls from a school? Is this renewed abduction not a ploy to divert attention from the killings by herdsmen?”
Lawmakers passed the motion to probe the abduction in a unanimous voice vote.
Meanwhile, the speaker attacked the army and the police for passing the buck on who to blame for the abduction.
He said the two security agencies should rescue the girls instead of engaging in buck-passing.
A statement by Dogara’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, quoted the Speaker as saying, “The statements credited to the army and the police in which they tried to exonerate themselves from any culpability in the embarrassing abduction of innocent girls from their school are highly condemnable.
“This is unacceptable and the House of Representatives; and indeed Nigerians, will hold the security agencies responsible. They all bear responsibility for this unfortunate incident.
“The traumatic experience of the Chibok abduction which is still fresh in our minds should have served as a warning to security agencies to provide adequate protection to all schools in the North-East.”
FG releases names of missing girls
The Federal Government has released the names and other details of the 110 schoolgirls.
The list was contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by the Minister of Information and Culture, who had twice led a Federal Government delegation to Yobe since the incident occurred.
The list, which the minister said was handed over to him by the Yobe State Government, contains the name, age, and class of each of the 110 students.
Out of the 110 missing girls, eight were said to be in JSS1, 17 in JSS2, 12 in JSS3, 40 in SS1, 19 in SS2 and 14 in SS3.
Mohammed said that the girls’ ages ranged from 11 to 19.
The list, which also contains the contact address and phone number of each missing girl, was said to have been verified by a 26-member Screening Committee that included the Executive Secretary, Yobe State Teaching Service Board, Musa Abdulsalam; Director, Schools’ Management, Yobe State Ministry of Education, Shuaibu Bulama; Principal of GGSTC, Adama Abdulkarim; the two Vice Principals, Ali Musa Mabu and Abdullahi Sule Lampo; Admissions Officer, Bashir Ali Yerima, and the Form Masters for the classes.
Chief of Air Staff relocates to Yobe
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on Tuesday relocated to Yobe State to supervise the search for the 110 Dapchi schoolgirls.
The presidency disclosed this in a message posted on one of its verifiable Twitter handles, @NGRPresident.
“Today (Tuesday), Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal @CAS_AMSadique relocated to Yobe State to personally superintend the search for the missing Dapchi girls.
“The @NigAirForce had earlier deployed more platforms to the N/East, as security agencies ramp up efforts to locate and rescue the girls,” the message read.
“As of 6pm on Monday, February 26, 2018, the @NigAirForce had flown a total of 200 hours conducting searches for the missing Dapchi girls,” another message posted on the platform read.
Information minister, Mohammed, also confirmed that the Chief of Air Staff had relocated to Yobe State to superintend the search for the girls.
He said the Nigerian Air Force “had earlier deployed more platforms to the North-East for the search, as the security agencies ramp up their efforts to locate and rescue the girls.”
“As of 6 pm on Monday, the NAF had flown a total of 200 hours while conducting the search,” Mohammed added.
Obasanjo’s coalition condemns abduction
The Coalition for Nigeria Movement, led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has condemned the abduction of Dapchi schoolgirls.
In a statement by one Omoruyi Edoigiawerie for the National Steering Committee, the coalition called on the Federal Government and security agencies to do everything possible to ensure that the girls were rescued.
The CNM said terrorists must not be allowed to stop or hinder the girl-child education.
The statement read in part, “While we empathise with the parents of our dear daughters, we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to intensify its fight against terrorism and all forms of extremism and criminality. This cannot become the norm.
“Our resolve to push for a Nigeria that typifies socio-economic development, social justice, equity, equality of opportunity, human security, human rights, good governance and the general wellbeing of all its citizens and inhabitants remains unshaken.”
ACF, NASFAT seek security overhaul
The Arewa Consultative Forum and the Nasrul-Lahi-L-Fatih Society on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to overhaul the nation’s security architecture following the Dapchi pupils’ abduction.
The ACF described as unnecessary and unhelpful, the blame-game among the Yobe State government, the military and the police on the incident.
The ACF in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Biu, urged security agencies to dwell more on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to rescue the abducted girls.
The group described the abduction as wicked and callous, saying that the incident was similar to the “infamous Chibok girls’ abduction” by Boko Haram insurgents.
The forum said, “The ACF urges the military and other security agencies to deploy all resources at their disposal, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, in the rescue of the abducted girls.
“All hands should be on deck to ensure that the girls are rescued. The ACF calls on the Federal Government to review the security architecture, especially in the North-East.”
NASFAT President, Kamil Bolarinwa, in a statement by the group’s Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Banji Busari, on Tuesday noted that the society share in the pains of the victims’ parents.
The statement read in part, ““We are in pains at understanding the motivation of the current action of the terrorist group who definitely are not Muslims and do not represent Islam. We share the pains, trauma and the agony of the distraught parents of these schoolchildren.
“NASFAT strongly believes that the security agencies need to overhaul their security architecture. It may be dangerous to assume that the deadly terrorist group has been defeated.”
Go to Dapchi, PDP tells Buhari
The Peoples Democratic Party has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to halt the feasting with the All Progressives Congress chieftains in Aso Villa and show leadership by visiting Dapchi, Yobe State, to get a first hand information on the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the 110 schoolgirls.
The main opposition party said the move would bridge the disconnect between him and Nigerians, who it said daily lament the aloofness of their leader.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, on Tuesday said it was disheartening that while the parents of the abducted daughters were wailing and the insurgents were fleeing, the President and his APC leaders were busy feasting in the Presidential Villa and “plotting their bound-to-fail 2019” re-election campaign.
“President Buhari has completely reneged on his assurances, before his election, to be a father to all and to lead the fight against insurgency from the fronts.
“Nigerians are worried that he has now allowed himself to be holed in the safety and luxury of the Presidential Villa while citizens are being slaughtered and taken captive by marauders and insurgents.”
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: theeditor@punchng.com
Post A Comment:
0 comments so far,add yours