The Federal Government has released comprehensive details of the 110 students of the Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State, abducted by Boko Haram insurgents.
The list was contained in a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who has twice led a Federal Government delegation to Yobe since the tragic incident occurred.
The list, which was handed over to the minister by the Yobe State Government, contains the name, age and class of each of the 110 students.
A summary of the list showed that out of the 110 missing girls, eight are in JSS1, 17 in JSS2, 12 in JSS3, 40 in SS1, 19 in SS2 and 14 in SS3. The girls’ ages range from 11 to 19 years.
The list, which also contains the contact address and phone number of each missing girl, was verified by a 26-member Screening Committee that includes the Executive Secretary, State Teaching Service Board, Musa Abdulsalam; Director, Schools’ Management, Ministry of Education, Shuaibu Bulama; Principal of GGSTC, Adama Abdulkarim; the two Vice Principals, Ali Musa Mabu and Abdullahi Sule Lampo; Admission Officer, Bashir Ali Yerima, and the form masters for all the classes.
The students were abducted from the school situated about 100 kilometre from Damaturu, the state capital, following the attack by insurgents on February 19.
As the nation await with bated-breath, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara told the Army and Police to accept responsibility for failing to stop the abduction.
His admonition follows the trading of blames by the two major security agencies on Monday.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Turaki Hassan, the Speaker said buck passing between the two security agencies was unacceptable.
He said instead of trading blames, the security agencies should collaborate and intensify efforts to rescue the schoolgirls.
Dogara spoke even as members of the House of Representatives expressed anger over the abduction.
Lawmakers, who contributed to a debate at plenary on a motion on the need to urgently rescue the schoolgirls abducted by insurgents last week, condemned the incidence and called on the security agencies to expedite action in the rescue of the students.
At the end of the debate, which lasted for several hours, the House resolved to summon all the service chiefs to appear before it to address the parliament on the security situation in the country.
It also resolved to set-up an ad-hoc committee to probe the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the schoolgirls.
It equally urged the Federal Government to provide more security to school children in Yobe, Borno and other parts of the North East to forestall further abductions of students.
Leading debate on the motion, the sponsor, Goni Bukar Lawan, said one week before the abduction, soldiers stationed at the various military checkpoints in Dapchi were withdrawn.
Lawan added that the abduction of students by Boko Haram insurgents in Yobe and other states in the North East has become a regular occurrence.
He called on the security agents to intensify efforts to rescue the Dapchi schoolgirls, noting that there was information that the insurgents might be hiding the girls in a big forest in the state.
Contributing to the motion, Sani Abdul called on the House to take a decisive action on the matter.
“It is a national embarrassment. I believe that they are saboteurs in the system. It is an a shame. We cannot close our eyes. We need to do something. We need to do something about it. I support that a very powerful committee should be raised to investigate this,” he said.
On his part, the Minority whip, Barde Yakubu said there was need to conduct an audit of security personnels in the country to ascertain, among them, those who are truly Nigerians.
Besides, Yakubu wondered why security agencies have not deplored modern technological equipment in the fight against insurgency in the country.
FG sets up 12-man probe panel headed by Army General
The Federal Government has announced the setting up of a 12-member committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the students.
The committee was convened by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd), according to a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The panel, which is expected to submit its report by 15 March 2018, is also saddled with recommending measures to prevent future occurrence. The Committee will be inaugurated today.
The Committee, which will be chaired by a military officer of the rank of Major-General, comprises one senior Provost each from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force; representatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA); Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA); Nigeria Police Force (NPF); Department of State Services (DSS); Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); two representatives of the Yobe State Government and a representative of the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The terms of reference of the Committee include ascertaining the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls, confirming the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security emplaced in Dapchi as well as in GGSTC before the incident and suggesting measures that can lead to the location and rescue of the girls.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has relocated to Yobe State to personally superintend the search for the girls.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) 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.
The Presidency, in a tweet yesterday, disclosed that as at 6:00pm on Monday February 26, the Nigerian Air Force had flown 200 hours conducting searches for the missing Dapchi girls.
-Sun
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