THE over 100 schoolgirls abducted on Monday night at Chibok, Borno State, have been rescued.The military, in a statement, said only eight of the abducted girls were still missing.
Military men and local hunters, alongside members of vigilante in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, on Wednesday, pursued the insurgents in search of the abducted school girls and rescued 80 of them.
This came as the military confirmed that more students of the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok were freed on Wednesday evening in the ongoing search and rescue operations to free the abducted students.
In a press release signed by Major-General Chris Olukolade, the Director of Defence Information, the principal of the school confirmed that only eight of the students are still missing.
He also confirmed that one of the terrorists who carried out the attack on the school has also been captured.
The military intervention and search and rescue operation to ensure the safety of the remaining students is ongoing in the suspected areas.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the insurgents, who had earlier stopped an articulated vehicle loaded with food items in order to take the girls away, got stuck in the bush while they were trying to cross over the muddy area in the bush between Chibok and Askira/Uba.
Father of one of the rescued girls, Malam Ali Iliya, who spoke with newsmen on phone, said “my daughter said when the trailer got stuck, some of the girls began to jump out and run for their lives and she followed suit.
“They were scattered in the bush when the vigilantes and local hunters found them. Some of them were wounded, some were with fracture as a result of jumping from the vehicle, but we are happy our children are rescued. Now, we are praying for those who are still with the Boko Haram and our prayer is that every father would have his child back.”
He said his daughter, Hajara, was sound and healthy but weak as a result of fear, adding that “we are lucky our children were not shot by the insurgents.
“They allowed those who could run to go, but those who could not run, either as a result of fear or wound, were still with them in the bush. My daughter said the abductors were over 100 and that the girls were 243 when they were asked by the insurgent to count themselves.”
He said many of the children who returned home on Wednesday were doing well, adding that “our relations have been calling and some are on their way to Chibok from Maiduguri. Those who are far in Abuja, Lagos and other places have been calling. They have destroyed everything, but those of us who are alive are thankful to God. Our prayers is that this inhumanity would come to an end soon.”
This came as Governor Kashim Shettima, on Wednesday announced an offer of N50 million to anyone that offered useful information leading to the rescue of some female students abducted by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.
Shettima said a total of 129 final year science students undertaking exams were at the school hostel as of the time of the attack.
He said others were day students, while the rest of the students were on holiday.
He, however, said the exact number of abducted students was yet to be ascertained, but that a register had since been opened for parents and guardians to make formal reports on missing students, adding that 50 complaints by parents and guardians had so far, been documented in the register.
The governor said his government was willing to do everything to ensure that the female students got reunited with their family.
He said he had been in constant touch with the principal of the school and the leaders of Chibok and had got everyone involved in the search for the students.
On how the initial 10 students escaped, the governor said they were asked to be involved in the preparation of meals by the insurgents and they took the opportunity of washing plates to flee the camp.
He said he would have been in Chibok but for security advice, which told him to stay away for now, as search and rescue operations launched by the military and vigilance men were ongoing.
Meanwhile, the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram were taken to a stronghold of the Islamist group, parents said Wednesday.
“Three girls who escaped and returned to Chibok area briefed locals about the attack at the home of the area’s tribal chief on Wednesday,” said Lawal Zanna, whose daughter was among those abducted.
“The girls told us they were taken to the Konduga district part of Sambisa forest by their captors,” Zanna said, referring to an area where Boko Haram was known to have well-fortified camps.
His account was supported by two other Chibok residents, who asked that their names be withheld.
The girls said they ran after getting permission from the gunmen to use the bathroom and were helped back to Chibok by nomadic herdsmen from the Fulani ethnic group.
Senator Ali Ndume, who represents the region, said the pursuit included soldiers backed by members of a local vigilance force, which formed last year to help fight Boko Haram.
“They are now combing the forest to rescue the school girls,” he told AFP, adding that “they are being aided by surveillance helicopters,” he said, but noted the difficulty of the search in a vast forest that extends to neighbouring Cameroon.
The United Nations children’s organisation (UNICEF) condemned the attack “in the strongest possible terms”, and urged Nigeria “to urgently take steps to make sure that the children are returned to their families.”
Jonathan summons govs
Against the backdrop of recurrent deadly terrorist attacks in parts of the country, President Goodluck Jonathan has summoned members of the National Security Council to a meeting today to consider how to deal with the situation.
A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, in Abuja, on Wednesday, said the meeting, which would be presided over by the president was scheduled for 11.00 a.m.
Those expected at the meeting included Vice President Namadi Sambo; Minister of Defence, Lieutenant-General Aliyu Gusau; National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd); Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, the service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the State Security Services and the Director-General of National Intelligence Agency.
It said the meeting of the National Security Council would be followed at 1.00 p.m. by an enlarged meeting on security developments in the country, to which the president had invited state governors.
The statement revealed that Jonathan, members of the National Security Council and the state governors would review the security situation in the country as well as ongoing national security measures and operations, with a view to determining the best way forward.
More students freed —Defence Hqtrs
The Defence Headquarters, on Wednesday, said more of the abducted students had been freed.
This was contained in a statement by Major-General Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information and Coordinator of Joint Information Centre, Counter-Terrorism Campaign, in Abuja.
Olukolade said troops pursuing the terrorists closed in on the den of those believed to have carried out the attack.
“In another development, troops deployed to restore law and order in Wukari, Taraba State, have apprehended 14 armed men.
“The armed men were involved in the fighting during the civil disturbances in the town early in the week,” he said.
Boko Haram, worst terror group in the world —FG
The Federal Government, on Wednesday, described Boko Haram as the worst terrorist group in the world, judging by how its members abduct young girls and target innocent and defenseless civilians for slaughter.
Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, gave the position while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by President Jonathan in Abuja.
He said the way the insurgents operate places them among the worst terrorists in any part of the world, adding that “the kidnap of young children is among the things that make them among the worst in the world.”
Maku, who was joined at the briefing by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed and the Minister of State for Health, Kharilu Alhassan, said though government had not been fully briefed on the reported abduction of girls in Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, efforts were being made to rescue them.
He regretted that it iwas not physically possible to provide adequate security for all schools which, he observed, were spread throughout the North-East zone where the insurgents are active, adding, however, that “we assure Nigerians that we will make sure that we get those girls back quickly.”
While condemning the abduction, FEC called on Nigerians to provide information to security agencies that could help to locate and rescue the school children.
He said FEC regretted the gory pictures of blast victims published by sections of the media which, he said, displayed insensitivity and lack of respect for the dead.
The government’s spokesman lambasted those who claimed that President Jonathan was insensitive to issues of terrorism, following his decision to attend the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) unity rally in Kano, just a day after the Nyanya bombing.
According to Maku, the president attended the rally to prove the point to the terrorists that they could not cripple the activities of government which, he said, was their fundamental objective.
“For someone to go round and say that the president is not sensitive is not correct. Their purpose is to cripple government activities,” Maku said, adding that Jonathan was the most affected psychologically by the terrorist attacks in the country, despite all he had done to tackle the menace.
The minister added that “you will remember that the president called off his trip to Ibadan for the centenary church celebration of the Olubadan of Ibadan, who was exactly 100 years old that time.
“He personally visited the scene (of the blast) and called on all the security operatives to provide support. There also, he called on the nation to be more united, even as he reassured the nation that government will not surrender to the antics of the terrorists.”
FCT Minister Mohammed, confirmed the latest casualty figures, noting that 75 died while 171 victims were receiving treatments in various hospitals.
He said 20 buses, 14 mini vans and 47 motorcycles were destroyed in the blast.
WAEC exams continues
Director of Press and Public Relations Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Olu Lipede, who spoke with Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, on Wednesday, appealed to the abductors of the school girls to release them.
He, however, confirmed to Nigerian Tribune that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) had not stopped the ongoing Senior Secondary School Examination in the volatile northern part of the country.
“As for the exams, WAEC has not chickened out, because part of the strategy or objectives of the insurgents is to create so much panic that anything that has to do with education and beyond comes to a stand still.
“WAEC has taken the gauntlet and continuing with examination in the place and students in the zone will still write their examination,” he said.
EU condemns abduction of students in BornoChristian Okeke- Abuja
THE European Union (EU), on Wednesday, condemned the abduction of more than 100 school girls in north eastern Chibok, Borno State, which came only a day after a deadly bombing on a bus park in the Nyanya suburb of Abuja, killing 71 and injuring many more.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, Catherine Ashton, issued a statement where she condemned the violent attacks going on in the country.
She said: “I am concerned by the increasing frequency and spread of terrorist attacks, including those of last week on several villages in Borno State.”
“I express my condolences to the families of the victims and call for those responsible for these acts to be brought to justice.
“The EU stands with the people and the government of Nigeria in the fight against terrorism and violence and for the rule of law and human rights.”
Nyanya bomb explosion: IYC calls for drastic action against Boko HaramAustin Ebipade-Yenagoa
Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide said it has received with utmost disbelief the news of terrorist attack in Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, which claimed many lives with several others injured. The group strongly condemned the attack and commiserated with the families of the victims and the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In a statement by IYC spokesman , Eric Omare said that considering the deadly nature of the attack and its implications on our national security, the Federal Government of Nigeria should take drastic and far reaching action against sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria, adding that the problem of terrorism could not be resolved without tackling the source of their sponsorship.
According to him, the sponsors of Boko Haram should be arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law, noting that the Federal Government could not claim ignorance of the sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria, particularly given the security apparatus at its disposal.
Omare said government must act decisively without minding whose ox was gored, order to protect the mass of the people of Nigeria, noting that the interest of the generality of Nigerians is over and above the interest of a few power hungry people who are sponsoring terrorism.
He reiterated the earlier position of the IYC that the ultimate objective of the sponsors of Boko Haram and terrorism, is to make the country ungovernable and then forcefully take over the government of Nigeria, adding that it is an issue the government must treat with utmost seriousness.
“We commend the effort of security agencies in tackling the challenge of terrorism and once again state our call for the extension of the existing state of emergency in the North East of Nigeria. The Nyanya attack has shown that Boko Haram has an agenda to extend its activities to other parts of the country once they are successful in overrunning the North East”
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