• Saturday, May 04, 2024
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BusinessDay

UPDATE: Dapchi School abduction: Army, Police ,other security agencies keep mum

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Tony Ailemen and Stella Enenche, Abuja

Three daysa after the reported kidnap of an estimated 94 girls at the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi , Yobe State by men suspected to be Book Haram terrorists, Information on the matter has remained scanty, especially on the actual number of students kidnapped and their current whereabouts.

BusinessDay gathered that on account of the scanty information available, at the Presidential Villa, The National Council of States, (a body made up of former Nigerian leaders, governors from the 36 states of the Federation, Ministers and other top government appointees) could not deliberate on the matter at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Thursday.

BusinessDay gathered that although the matter came up for discussion under security matters, the absence of comprehensive information from security agencies prevented council members from discussing it in detail.

Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru , briefing State House Correspondents after the National Council of State meeting Presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, said although incident was discussed, “since there was no full report yet, we did not discuss it in detail at the Council of State meeting.”

Matter relating to the Police, national security and the 2019 elections time table were part of the agenda at the meeting which also had former Heads of State, Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo, and Abdulsalami Abubakar in attendance.

The meeting which is the third under the current administration was also attended by former Chief Justices of Nigeria, including Mohammed Uwais, Idris Kutigi, Alfa Belgore and Aloma Muktar.

Former leaders absent were Shehu Shagari Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Earnest Shonekan and Goodluck Jonathan.

In a swift reaction, the Bring Back Our Girls Group (BBOG) and other concerned Nigerians have called on the Federal Government and other security agencies in the country to provide accurate information as to the number of girls kidnapped and the number so far released.
Meanwhile, all efforts to reach the Army, Police and the Yobe state command has proved abortive as they are not picking their calls nor responding to text messages.