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Tag: Dapchi abduction

  • PDP’s comment on Dapchi abduction dishonourable, says Fed Govt

    The Federal Government yesterday lashed the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for saying the abduction and release of the Dapchi schoolgirls was stage-managed.

    It described the PDP statement as “erroneous and extremely dishonourable”

    In a statement, Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed, said such postulation portrayed the PDP “as insensitive, unpatriotic and unworthy party”.

    He said since the release of the Dapchi girls was negotiated by friendly countries and reputable international organisations, it would have taken a conspiracy of global proportion to have stage-managed the adoption and release of the girls.

    “’As we have said many times since the abduction of the Dapchi schoolgirls, no government is exempted from its own share of tragedies.

    “What makes the difference is the way such tragedies are managed.

    “Whereas it took the PDP all of 18 days to even acknowledge the abduction of the Chibok girls in 2014, the APC Federal Government acted promptly and responsively when the Dapchi schoolgirls were abducted Feb. 19, hence their quick release,” he said.

    The Minister said it was unfortunate that the PDP that failed as a ruling party had also failed as an opposition party “going by its insensitive and crude response to the release of the Dapchi schoolgirls”.

    “In its 16 years in power, the PDP redefined governance as cluelessness, massive looting of the public treasury and crude exhibition of power.

    “In its over three years in opposition, the PDP has again shown it does not understand the role of the opposition in a democracy.

    “How then can the PDP convince Nigerians that it has learnt its lessons and that it is ready to rule the country again?

    “Nigerians must say ‘never again’ to this primitive and soulless party,” he said.

    The minister said further that “the Federal Government has not been responding to the “amateurish and jejune” statements from the PDP.

    “This is precisely because the party has failed to learn the ropes of being an opposition party, even when we have advised them to take a crash course on the role of the opposition in a democracy.

    “’We broke our own rules this time because the PDP over-reached itself and scored an own goal at a time it could simply have congratulated the government and people of Nigeria on the release of the girls or just keep quiet,” he said.

    Mohammed assured Nigerians that the Government would intensify the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls and return them safely to their families.

    The PDP took a swipe at the Presidency, saying the abduction and the release of the girls were stage-managed for political purposes

    National Chairman Uche Secondus and National Publicity Secretary Kola Ologbondiyan at different news conferences on Wednesday, demanded the probe, arrest and prosecution of all those involved in the alleged saga

    Speakers of Houses of Assembly yesterday called for the intensification of efforts by security agencies to secure lives and property of all Nigerians.

    While commending the Federal government for its swift action over the abducted girls, they noted that lives of every Nigerian must be sacrosanct and adequately protected by the government.

    Rising from its 2018 first quarter general meeting in Gusau, the Zamfara State yesterday, the Speakers stated: “The Conference appealed to the relevant security agencies to intensify their efforts with a view to curbing the nefarious activities of the criminally-minded people who have been terrorizing the innocent people across the country”.

    In the communique signed by Caretaker Chairman and Speaker of Kebbi State House of Assembly, Abdulmumin Kamba, President Muhammadu Buhari was urged to ensure speedy assent to the Amendment Bills, when transmitted by the National Assembly.

    Though President Buhari had already refused assent to Electoral Act amendment Bill (Election sequence) the Speakers commended major stakeholders involved the constitution review  exercise for being patriotic in passing the amendments.

     

  • Dapchi abduction: Matters arising

    The national and international media may erroneously be attributing the kidnap of 110 girls from Dapchi Secondary School in Yobe on February 19 to Boko Haram. This error is a result of the Nigerian government’s deliberate attempt to conflate the actions of two competing extremist groups, and play down the presence, strength, sophistication and influence of the Islamic State in the West African Province (ISWA). Admitting the extent of the Islamic State’s influence would amount to admission of having lost control of a significant portion of the country.

    In this case, the government’s strategy is backfiring. Previously, by conflating the two groups and finally diverting the resources to the cause of “crushing” Boko Haram (BH) in Sambisa (as it claims to have done three times previously), the government could show in advance of the 2019 elections that they are “winning”. Credit is due to the brave soldiers fighting this fight. However, the government has occluded the fact that ISWA is separate, growing in strength and influence, and that vast swathes of the ungoverned North are being taken over by the black-flag carriers with only minimal effort. On this front they are losing, because the problem is not a military one.

    A smash, grab and kidnap are not the tactics of ISWA. We have observed them acting in a much more sophisticated manner: perpetuating prescription drug abuse, manipulating markets for fish and charcoal and offering basic healthcare services. Dapchi is, however, within ISWA’s territory. ISWA appears to have learned from the multi-million cash euro ransom paid for the Chibok girls’ release in May and December 2017, that girl-snatching is good business.

    I have been working in Northeast Nigeria for two years along with a team of Nigerians working fearlessly in these communities, from Chibok to Dapchi and beyond. I am aware of the intricate dynamics by which extremist groups are acting, by which Nigeria’s institutions continue to fail, and by which the Nigerian people continue to suffer. In Dapchi, aside from the argument that continues between Police, State Security, Military and the State Governor’s office that allowed for the incident to happen, I attribute the event to two categories of failure:

    Failings of the Government

    Large swathes of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa remain ungoverned and unserved. They are remote and hard to reach. They have insufficient water, schools, transport, power, cell phone coverage and healthcare. With an estimated population of over 20 million, the scope and scale of need is immense. All this in a country which has disbursed only 47 per cent of its 2017 budget, that claims to be the largest economy in Africa, and that also has (according to Oxfam’s May 2017 report) the largest inequality in the world.

    A group proposing a governance model based on faith and piousness is not new to Nigeria: churches in the south have enough territory and population to be considered cities and govern their own schooling, security and power generation. But the extent and severity of the poverty in the Northeast is unmatched and presents fertile territory for violent extremist’s state-building.

    Over successive regimes the Nigerian government has failed to keep the political and economic elite separate, such that political actors make economic decisions to disempower competition to their enterprises and their families. The perverseness of this situation is that the “competition” is the population those elite are supposed to serve.

    The government has also failed to identify that 20 million people in such a circumstance can easily be persuaded by a group offering something so marginally better, but better nonetheless. This is how Islamic State has established itself in Nigeria, to the degree that it has communities under its control (ambivalent but active Nigerians, not foreigners), and systems of taxation, production, and domestic and international export.

    “Government failure,” however, is an easy and too-often-used excuse, and one with which we have become entirely too comfortable. The core issue is much more cutting to Nigeria as a whole:

    The failings of Nigeria

    First are the foundational issues, to which most Nigerians are accustomed: it is commonly accepted that holders of public office serve primarily themselves in a pattern that is considered fair because after a designated term limit it will be someone else’s chance. Even for those who do serve the public, too much responsibility, credit and criticism is placed on these individuals; a habit undermining the immense human capital that is Nigeria’s greatest resource. In this way, individuals are not valued and many are openly despised by society: workers, cleaners, farmers, drivers and youth.

    These individuals may unionise to vie for recognition, but there exists a pervasive lack of faith in Nigeria’s systems because there is proportionally no accountability in plurality. Multiple unions, groups, agencies, committees compete for the same resources in a manner reminiscent of colonial powers’ “divide and rule” tactics. Fundamentally, the democratic process has failed: while leadership may change, institutions do not, and they continue to fail to serve the people.

    The final two issues are the crux of the matter. There exists a pervasive lack of national unity, to the degree that “Nigerian” is a foreign concept, as is Maiduguri, Madagali or Dapchi. Other than a single, gated, and generally inaccessible square on Lagos Island, there are no national monuments in the country’s 36 states and 923,000 sqKm that say “we are proudly Nigeria.” Maiduguri is more foreign than Dubai or London.

    It is possible to build a sense of national unity: Ghana, South Korea and Israel achieved this post-independence, and before you respond that none has the population, diversity of geographic challenge: so did Indonesia (independent in 1945, 261 million people, 1.9m sqKm, 13,000 separate islands, 300 distinct ethno-linguistic groups). Lack of national unity prevents us from cohering around this issue and seeing it as our own to solve.

    Nigeria deals with its problems in one of three ways: (a) to dismiss it, (b) to attribute it to someone else or (c) to consider it a military issue to be “crushed”. All three strategies have been applied to “the Boko Haram problem”, and Islamic State is the result. If anything can be salvaged from the kidnap of the Dapchi girls, it is to confirm the flaw in this logic, to learn from it, and to acknowledge the Nigerian malignancy that it is.

    Until we accept the severity and the reality of the problem that Islamic State is establishing a nation in Nigeria’s territory, that with a single action in Dapchi they can send us back to 2014, and that Nigeria’s issues have got us to this point, we will continue to move backwards.

     

    • Baba-Buba writes from Yobe.

     

  • Parents, students weep as Buhari visits Dapchi

    The Dapchi community in Yobe State was in gloomy mood Wednesday when President Muhammadu Buhari visited the Government Girls Science and Technical College where 110 school girls were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on February 19.

    Some of the parents of the abducted girls and their school mates broke down in tears when the chairman of the abducted girls’ parents association, Bashir Monzo, was making his remarks before President Buhari.

    The President and his entourage arrived the school at 3:54 p.m.

    Earlier, the parents had wept uncontrollably when they were interviewed by journalists hours before the President’s arrived in the school.

    One of the abducted girls’ mother, Hafisatu Mohammed, who spoke in Hausa language, said: “We are in a terrible situation. Some parents have died due to the loss of their children, while some are very sick.

    “We know that this tragic situation was ordained by God. We accept it in good faith. We accept this as a trial from God. We know that Almighty God will help us fight our battle. Our God will expose them. He will bring us out of this predicament.

    “We are begging our President, Baba Buhari, that he should do all the needful in good time and rescue our children from these oppressors.”

    Aisha Bukar, a mother of another abducted girl, said: “The sister to one of my daughter, who was abducted in the school, is very sick at home due to the abduction of her younger sister.

    “We pray that God will bring peace back to Nigeria. We have never experienced such a terrible situation in our lives. Although, there is relative peace since Buhari became President of Nigeria and we are still thanking him for what he is doing and may God continue to protect him.

    “We want him to redouble efforts to save our children from this wicked people. My daughter that was kidnapped was not able to walk for seven years. We brought her to school after she was cured and now they have kidnapped her. Because of this incident, I became sick and was admitted at the hospital.”

    One of the students, who was in school during the abduction, Hafsat Lawal, recounted how she narrowly escaped the abduction.

    She said: “I was around when the students were kidnapped. I just came out of the bathroom when I heard gunshots. Initially, I thought it was electricity transformer that exploded.

    “Nevertheless, I started running and I saw my sister running too. When I asked her why she was running, she said that I should shut up and let’s run for our lives. So, I followed her and we ran towards the main gate.

    “When we reached the gate, we asked the gateman to open the gate for us. But he refused and told us that outside was not safe. So we jumped over the fence and started running. We then saw some men in military uniform covering their heads with scarf. They asked us to come so that they will rescue us.

    “But when we came close to them, we discovered that they were not real military men. Some of them were wearing slippers. So we changed direction and one of them started following us.

    “We jumped the school fence and came inside the school premises again. We then started running towards the staff quarters. The guy who was following us started shouting that we should stop or he would shoot us.

    “We disobeyed him and kept running. He then started shooting sporadically in the air. I am very sad that my sisters were kidnapped. In fact, I became sick because of trauma of the incident.”

     

  • Dapchi abduction, Rann attack won’t happen again, says Buhari

    Dapchi abduction, Rann attack won’t happen again, says Buhari

    The abduction of 110 Dapchi schoolgirls and last week’s attack on Internally Displaced Persons’ camp in Rann, Borno State took the centre stage at yesterday’s national security summit in Abuja.

    President Muhammadu Buhari vowed that the abduction of schoolgirls and the kind of attack on Rann in which humanitarian workers were killed by suspected Boko Haram insurgents would not be allowed to recur.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo represented the President at the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja venue of the  eighth edition of the National Security Seminar 2018 organised by the Alumni Association of the NDC in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the NDC.

    The seminar had the theme “Fighting Tomorrows’ Warfare Today.”

    Buhari urged the elite and the media to avoid creating fertile ground for clashes among Nigerians through “what is said and what is done”. He urged the elite to “hold Nigeria together by our actions and utterances as well as our values”.

    President Buhari said the persistent attacks of the terrorists on soft targets, such as the kidnap of the girls and the incident at Rann were to create the impression that the terrorists were still very much around. He insisted  that compared to when he took over the reins in 2015, the insurgents had been effectively degraded.

    The President said since the kidnap of the girls, the Armed Forces had been fully mobilised to Borno and Yobe states to ensure the security and safety of the people as well as schools.

    He said: “Boko Haram, as we all know, rejects authority and strives to take over territory, to establish a caliphate in line with ISIS objectives. Between 2012 and 2015, they seemed to be well on their way to achieve their objectives by annexing some territory of Nigeria.

    ”As of March 2015, Boko Haram controlled about 20,000square kilometres of Nigeria, that is about the size of Belgium, from the eastern border of Cameroun to parts of Lake Chad. In Borno State, 20 out of 27 local government areas were under Boko Haram control, including Mubi in Adamawa and some villages.

    ”In addition to this, their footprints were registered in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano with the bombings of the UN building and Police HQ in Abuja .That was the state of affairs as of early 2015. Today, BH does not occupy any local government area in Nigeria. And they no longer have the capacity to hold a territory. and challenge the sovereignty of the state.

    “Gone are the days they operated outside the precints of the northeast, leaving behind carnage and bloodshed. They are now operating as desperate criminal gang mostly in relics or groups taking over some communities, using children as suicide bombers, kidnapping innocent girls and children.”

    President Buhari, who lauded the bravery of the Armed Forces, said Nigerians and the present administration would remain grateful to them for their sacrifice, stating that “as things are today, the situation would have been worse without the gallantry of our armed forces”.

    President Buhari, who said the administration would rekindle the determination of the Armed Forces to subdue Boko Haram permanently, promised that a multi-dimensional approach would be adopted to tackle the insurgency.

    According to him, the administration would strengthen the intelligence gathering capabilities of the Armed Forces, adopt cutting edge technology to fight the insurgents and develop counter narratives that would make recruitment of young men and women into the Boko Haram group impossible.

    He also stated that besides the Safe School Initiative, the government would rebuild and secure communities destroyed by the insurgents, adding that all material conditions that make people take up arms against the state would be addressed.

    Minister of Defence Mansir Dan Ali said the efforts of the military to rescue the Dapchi girls and the Chibok girls would take the centre stage. He said a satellite communications system and other technological method would be deployed to rescue the girls.

    The minister was represented by Dr. Hassan Abdullahi a director in the ministry.

    Dan-Ali said Boko Haram was taking advantage of technology, especially the social media platforms to create panic, terror and confusion in the society. He urged the Armed Forces to move ahead of them by doing away with analogue technology and embrace digital technology.

    He also lamented that Nigeria’s reliance on foreign defence products was unhelpful in the fight against terror and other criminal activities, regretting that the cyber space is being dominated by criminals.

    The Federal Government, Dan-Ali asserted, would not only partner with critical stakeholders to address the security challenges facing the country, but scientific and technological solutions would be adopted to defeat terror.

    Dan-Ali acknowledged the loss of lives and livelihoods, destruction of farm lands across the country, the activities of cattle rustlers, as well as destruction of communities, promising that the government would do everything possible to restore hope and rebuild the affected areas.

    Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, also yesterday restated the army’s commitment to rescuing the Dapchi girls.

    Gen. Buratai, who spoke at the inauguration of the newly-completed office complex in the 6 Division of the Army in Port Harcourt, said: “The search for the 110 missing school girls from Dapchi is an ongoing  process.

    “Definitely, everybody is concerned and we are doing our best in finding the missing school girls.”

    Gen. Buratai also debunked the claims that the Boko Haram insurgents had  regrouped and  now control a large territory in the Northeast.

    He said there was “nothing like resurgence ’’, adding that  “one or two incidents’’ could not be interpreted as  resurgence.

    “It is the responsibility of everybody to join hands and knowing that it is not entirely a military responsibility but a collective task.

    “Every facet of our society needs to be part of this fight against terrorism. It is a national disaster and calamity which we must all join hands to defeat,” Gen. Buratai said.

  • Clark to Buhari: Declare state of emergency in North East

    Clark to Buhari: Declare state of emergency in North East

    Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare full state of emergency in the North East.

    Clark said this would enable the security agencies to finish the fight against Boko Haram terrorists unhindered.

    Speaking on the recent adoption of over 100 students from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, the former federal commissioner for information argued that anything short of full declaration of state of emergency in the North East would not yield the expected result.

    He declared that a state of emergency where a sole administrator is appointed for at least six months would do the work.

    He said a sole administrator unlike a political leader would take decisive action on the matter.

    Clark described the abduction as a national embarrassment because it affects all irrespective of party affiliation.

     

  • Dapchi: FG’s delegation visits Gaidam, assures on abducted girls’ return

    Dapchi: FG’s delegation visits Gaidam, assures on abducted girls’ return

    For the third time in one week, a Federal government delegation visited Yobe to sympathise with the state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, over the abduction of some girls at Government Girls’ Science Technical College, Dapchi.

    Those on the delegation that visited the state on Tuesday were the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Muhammad Babagana Munguno (retd) and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique  Abubakar.

    They met the governor and other stakeholders to discuss the progress report on the missing girls.

    According to the NSA, their visit was in solidarity with government and people of Yobe State.

    He said: “We identified with the current situation the people of Yobe State find themselves.  I have a goodwill message from President Muhammadu Buhari to commiserate with you though federal government delegations had come.

    “It is the primary responsibility that rest not only on the President’s shoulder but on mine and all my colleagues who are here.

    “So far within the last few days activities have been structured by meeting the President to discuss the situation.  The Theatre Command has started working hard on the search 24 hours non- stop.  The Nigerian Air Force has deployed 20 aircrafts to Maiduguri and eight others are on their way.  So far 200 hours have been spent searching for the missing girls.”

    He assured that the federal government would not relent in deploying all resources to ensure that the girls are rescued safe and alive, adding that measures will equally be put in place  to forestall any reoccurrence of such incident.

    Governor Gaidam said he is energized by the seriousness demonstrated by the federal government on the matter.

    “This visit being the third by the federal government has energized and served as motivating factor. This is aimed at ensuring that the missing school girls are returned to their parents in good health,” Gaidam said.

  • FG sets up committee to probe Dapchi abduction

    FG sets up committee to probe Dapchi abduction

    The Federal Government has set up a 12-member committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of 110 students of the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said the committee was convened by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd).

    He said the committee, which would be chaired by a military officer of the rank of Major-General, comprised one senior Provost each from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force.

    He said other members of the committee are representatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Services (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    The minister said the committee also included two representatives of the Yobe State Government and a representative of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

    He said the terms of reference of the committee included ascertaining the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls.

    Mohammed said the committee would confirm the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security deployed in Dapchi and in GGSTC before the incident.

    The minister said the committee would suggest measures that could lead to the location and rescue of the girls and recommend measures to prevent future occurrence.

    He said the committee would be inaugurated on Wednesday and is expected to submit its report by March 15.

    NAN

     

  • PDP asks NASS to probe Dapchi abduction

    PDP asks NASS to probe Dapchi abduction

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday urged the National Assembly to open a full scale investigation into the circumstances leading to the unfortunate abduction of 110 school girls in Dapchi, Yobe State.

    A statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the investigation has become imperative in the face of rising speculations and conspiracy theories in the public space.

    According to the PDP, the incident has continued to fuel conflicting reports, attempts at cover-up and disagreements among government officials and agencies.

    The statement said: “The National Assembly must take a critical note of the allegation by the Yobe State governor, Ibrahim Geidam, who insisted that the abduction was preceded by the withdrawal of troops safeguarding the troubled area.

    “The governor is the chief security officer of the state and his statement cannot be taken lightly or even dismissed by just a wave of the hand by anybody or any government agency under any guise whatsoever.”

    The party urged the National Assembly to also investigate the various conflicting reports that had characterized the abduction, particularly the initial moves by the Federal Government to deny the occurrence.

    “Nigerians are indeed worried about the apparent deliberate design to hide the facts of this abduction and demand to know the truth. It is a common saying in Africa that thunder does not strike on the same spot twice.

    “We must not allow our national ambience to be filled with speculations from conspiracy theorists. Our lawmakers must therefore, in unraveling the matter, question all security agencies, particularly those operating in the area.

    “Furthermore, we urge the National Assembly to urgently come to the rescue of some of the parents of our abducted daughters, who were arrested and taken into custody for daring to demand to know the whereabouts of their children and wards.

    “The Federal Government must be made to live up to the basic responsibility of protecting lives and property and also to be truthful to Nigerians at all times.

    “We therefore demand a strong legislative action at the highest level to enable our nation know the truth on this matter and other issues directly affecting the safety and wellbeing of our citizens,” the PDP added.

  • Why troops withdrew from Dapchi – Army

    Why troops withdrew from Dapchi – Army

    The Nigeria Army on Monday explained why it withdrew troops at Dapchi town before the last attack that led to the abduction of 110 girls at Government Girls’ Science Technical College, Dapchi.

    A statement signed by the Deputy Director of Public Relations and Spokesman of the Theatre Command, Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the withdrawal was purely an operational exigency following attacks in some parts of northern Yobe where the troops were redeployed for reinforcement.

    Onyema insisted that the priority of the army is not to join issues with Yobe State Governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, but to correct the misleading comment credited to the governor.

    According to the army spokesman, the comment is not only “unfortunate but far from the truth.”

    The army also assured parents of the abducted girls that the military is working tirelessly to rescue the girls.

    The statement reads:

    “The attention of Headquarters of Theatre Command, Operations LAFIYA DOLE,  has been drawn to a  statement credited to His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr.) Ibrahim Gaidam, Executive Governor of Yobe State, currently circulating in the media, in which he reportedly alleged that the withdrawal of the  military was responsible for the recent suspected Boko Haram terrorists’ attack and abduction of female students  from Government Girls Science Technical College in Dapchi . This allegation is not only unfortunate, but also very far from the truth

    “Although this headquarters will not attempt to join in any blame game, it is very expedient to set the record straight for the benefit of posterity.  In carrying out its mandate to counter terrorism and insurgency in North East Nigeria, Operation Lafiya Dole has been alive to its responsibilities vis a vis the fight against Boko Haram insurgents. Several communities and local governments that were hitherto under siege of the insurgents have been liberated and the insurgents pushed out . While troops continue to trail and decimate the remnants of the insurgents in the hinterlands, the security of the liberated communities and towns fall in the hands of the sister security agencies. The recent dislodgement and further decimation of the insurgents from their enclaves in the Sambisa and the Lake Chad Islands are testimonials to the effective operations of troops against the insurgents.

    “Additionally, troops are regularly conducting long range patrols, raids and ambushes to canalise and take out fleeing insurgents. Given all these efforts, it is very astonishing and shocking that such unfortunate comment and allegation is been touted against the loyal and dedicated troops of Operation Lafiya Dole.

    “Contrary to the comments being circulated, troops earlier deployed in Dapchi were redeployed to reinforce troops at Kanama following attacks on troops’ location at the Nigerian – Nigerien border. This was on the premise that Dapchi has been relatively calm and peaceful and the security of Dapchi town was formally handed over to the Nigeria Police Division located in the town. Troops’ redeployment was therefore done in tandem with the exigencies of operation and not as misconstrued.

    “It is thus obligatory, to state that the allegation reportedly attributed to the Governor of Yobe State is misleading and misinforming.  We reiterate our commitment and determination to carrying out our mandate to fight Boko Haram terrorists in the North East. We also implore members of the public to continue to support us with credible information on the whereabouts of the Boko Haram terrorists. We would also like to assure the parents, government and the good people of Yobe State and indeed members of the public that we will not rest on our oars in the search and rescue of the abducted school girls and any other persons held captive by the terrorists.”