- President Muhammadu Buhari spoke on the abduction of schoolgirls from Dapchi
- The president described the incident as a national disaster
- He promised to send more troops and surveillance aircraft to the town
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, February 23, described the abduction of schoolgirls from Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe state by gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram as a national disaster.
The president apologised for the unfortunate incident and promised to send more troops and aircraft to aid the security agencies in rescuing the missing girls.
Buhari said these in a statement made available to journalists by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu.
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The president said: “When I received the devastating news of the attack on the school and the fact that the local authorities could not account for all the students, I immediately dispatched a high-level delegation on a fact-finding visit to the town.
“I also instructed the security agencies to deploy in full and not spare any effort to ensure that all the girls are returned safely, and the attackers arrested and made to face justice.
“The entire country stands as one with the girls’ families, the government and the people of Yobe state.
“This is a national disaster. We are sorry that this could have happened and share your pain. We pray that our gallant armed forces will locate and safely return your missing family members.
“Our government is sending more troops and surveillance aircraft to keep an eye on all movements in the entire territory on a 24-hour basis, in the hope that all the missing girls will be found.”
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NAIJ.com previously reported that the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the abduction of the schoolgirls was a ploy by the insurgents to embarrass President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
The minister, who arrived at the college on Thursday, February 22, said that the government didn't want to manufacture stories on the true state and number of the kidnapped schoolgirls.
Mohammed urged the parents of the affected girls and the people of Dapchi community to give the government more time to tell them the exact situation of things.
Survivors of Boko Haram - on NAIJ.com TV
Source: Naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Saturday, 24 February 2018