The claim by
military officials in Abuja on Wednesday that 107 abducted girls of
Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS) Chibok were freed is a huge
lie, Borno government officials, the management of the school and
residents have said.
The Principal
of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Asabe Kwambura, told
PREMIUM TIMES Thursday morning that the military’s claim was false.
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“There is
nothing in the military statement that is true about our abducted
girls,” Mrs. Kwambura said. “Up till now we are still waiting and
praying for the safe return of the students; all I know is that we have
only 14 of them, and the security people especially the Vigilante and
the well meaning volunteers of Gwoza are still out searching for them.”
She continued,
”The military people too are in the bush searching. So we have not
received any information that they have gotten the students yet. So let
it be clear that all the information passed on the media by the military
concerning 107 girls is not true.
“I, as the
principal did not tell any body any figure on released students other
than what our Governor, His Excellency Kashim Shettima had informed the
media.”
The Principal said she was contacted by the military headquarters in Abuja yesterday and some person was asking her to confirm the number of girls released.
The Principal said she was contacted by the military headquarters in Abuja yesterday and some person was asking her to confirm the number of girls released.
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”I told them
that I don’t want to be seen to be contradicting myself on that because
what the governor said was what we know about; and I told them there may
be additional rescue of the girls, but up to this moment we have not
received any of them apart from what we had before,” the principal said.
” What the
governor said is still the true picture of the whole issue and that
information given by the military is totally wrong.”
The military
spokesperson at the Defence Headquarters, Major General Chris Olukolade,
had Wednesday issued a statement claiming that 107 abducted girls were
freed; adding that only eight of the girls were still missing and the
military was searching for them.
He also claimed that a member of the Boko Haram sect that participated in the abduction was also nabbed by the military.
Borno state Governor, ashim Shettima was also quoted by the BBC Hausa service this morning faulting the claims of the military.
He reportedly
said, “We have recovered 14 of the girls and we have announced a N50
million reward for any credible information that will help us get our
girls released and rejoined with their families.”
PREMIUM TIMES
also enquired from a top official of the Department of State Service
(DSS) in Maiduguri who ordinarily should know about the rescue of the
girls.
“We have no
such information apart from the 14 that escaped; if there is anything
like that, no one would want to hide it from the media; may be the
military have their own intel on that, which we probably are not aware
of for now,” he said.
Some relatives
and parents of the abducted girls said they were not happy with the way
the military “is misleading the world about the innocent girls”.
A female senior
Civil Servant with the Borno state government, who requested not to be
named said, “What kind of nonsense is this for God sake? Why are they
playing politics with the lives of these innocent girls; I had just
called some of my relatives in Chibok and they told me none of the girls
had been released apart from the 14 that escaped back to town. We hope
the military is not doing some thing funny with this very sensitive
issue”.
When contacted
late last night, Mr. Olukolade insisted it was the principal of the
school who told the military that only eight girls were now missing.
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