SAN FRANCISCO, March 25, (THEWILL) – The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has revised upwards the number of kidnapped Dapchi schoolgirls as well as the number of released girls.
That first figure of 110 was provided to Nigerians by the federal government after a presidential delegation went on a fact-finding mission to Dapchi, days after the February kidnap.
Speaking during a press conference in Lagos on Sunday, Mohammed reviewed upwards the figure of abducted persons based on new developments.
“Gentlemen, a total of 111 girls were abducted from the Government Girls Secondary and Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi on 19 Feb. 2018,” the Minister said.
“That means one student was not captured on the list of 110 abducted students that was compiled by the school, on the basis of which the Federal Government gave the number of abducted schoolgirls as 110.
“Also kidnapped were two other persons, who are not students of the college. They include a primary school boy who came to the school to sell pure water and another primary school girl. That brings the total number of abducted persons on that day to 113.”
“So far, a total of 107 persons, comprising 105 Dapchi schoolgirls and the two non-students, have been released by the insurgents.”
“Six Dapchi schoolgirls are yet unaccounted for. All efforts will be made to secure their release.”
The Minister also reiterated his earlier claims that the federal government neither paid ransom nor swapped any Boko Haram member to secure the release of the girls.
“This is a fact, irrespective of how a section of the press has tried to spin the story,” he said.
“The insurgents brought the girls back to the location of the kidnapping themselves as an apparent gesture of goodwill, following relentless efforts by the Government to find long-lasting solutions to the conflict.”
Mohammed said the government had been in a cessation of hostility talks with Boko Haram “for some time now.”
“The talks helped to secure the release of the police officers’ wives and the University of Maiduguri lecturers recently. And the talks did not stop thereafter.”
“Therefore, we were able to leverage on the wider talks when the Dapchi girls were abducted. As I said earlier, the insurgents decided to return the girls to where they picked them from as a goodwill gesture.”
“All they demanded was a ceasefire that will grant them a safe corridor to drop the girls. This is not new. Even in larger war situations, safe corridors are usually created for humanitarian and other purposes.”
“Consequently, a week-long ceasefire was declared, starting from Monday, 19 March. That is why the insurgents were able to drop the girls. This counters the conspiracy theories being propounded in some quarters concerning why it was so easy for the insurgents to drop off the girls without being attacked by the military.”
“Let me encapsulate my reaction to the disgraceful and insensitive politics, that the PDP has been playing with the Dapchi girls, by quoting the statement of the President when he received the Dapchi girls last Friday:
‘May I also warn against those elements who have chosen to make political fortune of our citizens’ misfortune. Government would not tolerate any attempt by any person or group to trivialise or politicise security issues for politically motivated ends. Accordingly, security agencies would not hesitate to decisively deal with such unscrupulous characters.’
“Those are very clear words that need no elaboration.
“The PDP and its co-travelers do not understand that terrorism is a global problem. A terror attack on any country is an attack on all countries. The UN was among the first international organizations to condemn the abduction of the Dapchi girls and also among the first to welcome their release.”
