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Tag: DAPCHI Girls

  • CAN deplores ‘politicization’ of Dapchi girls’ abduction, release

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is unhappy at what it sees as politicization of the abduction and release of the Dapchi schoolgirls.

    The association, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said politicians should “live up to expectation in the discharge of their official assignments.”

    It also asked the Federal Government to set up a high power judicial panel to investigate the abduction of the school girls with a view to unmasking those behind the abduction and make them face the full wrath of the law.

    Pastor Bayo Oladeji, the Media Adviser to CAN President, who signed the statement, said government should release the report of the Presidential panel set up to investigate the abduction and release of the schoolgirls.

    It rejoiced with the families of the 105 Dapchi schoolgirls who regained their freedom, but said it was “deeply worried, surprised and disappointed that not all the girls were rescue and, indeed, that one of them was left behind simply because of her Christian faith.”

    It added: “CAN condemns in strong terms the politicization of the abduction and release of the innocent Dapchi schoolgirls, appealing to politicians to live up to the expectation in the discharge of their official assignments.

    “The Federal Government should set up a high power judicial panel to investigate the abduction of the schoolgirls with a view to unmasking those behind the abduction and make them face the full wrath of the law;

    “The report of the panel purportedly set up by the Presidency to investigate the abduction should be released immediately to the public.

    “The National Assembly should conduct a public hearing on the Dapchi abduction saga to expose any cover-up.

    “The Federal Government should name the five students said to have died while in captivity with compensation paid to the bereaved parents.

    “We also demand the immediate release of the remaining Chibok girls in Boko Haram captivity and reunion with their families.

    “We once again demand a total re-organisation of the security agencies aligned with professionalism that will make them respond rapidly to security challenges in any part of the country.

    “We desire a proactive security system.”

  • Buhari: FG ready to rehabilitate repentant insurgents

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday received the 107 Dapchi girls released by Boko Haram abductors in February, saying that the Federal Government was ready to rehabilitate and integrate repentant terrorist into the larger society.

    Speaking at a reception organized for the girls and two boys freed by the insurgents in the State House on Wednesday, the President appealed to the parents of the Chibok Girls earlier abducted and yet to be released not to lose hope as efforts were being intensified to get them released.

    “While further effort is being made to secure the release of every abducted student in Nigeria, government is ever ready to accept the unconditional laying down of arms by any member of the Boko Haram, who shows strong commitment in that regard.

    “We are ready to rehabilitate and reintegrate such repentant members into the larger society.

    “This country has suffered enough hostility; government is, therefore appealing to all to embrace peace for the overall development of our people and the country.’’

    Buhari also warned Nigerians against making unguarded utterances that could endanger the security of the country, saying that such would be firmly resisted.

    “May I also warn those elements, who have chosen to make political fortune out of our citizen’s misfortune.

    “Government will not tolerate any attempt by any person or any group to trivialize political issues for politically-motivated ends.

    “Accordingly, security agencies will not hesitate to deal with such unscrupulous characters.’’

    According to the President, the administration went into negotiations with Boko Haram solely to make sure that no single girl was hurt adding that the strategy paid off as the girls were being released without many incidents.

    The President emphasized the administration’s determination to fight terrorism and insurgency and called on all Nigerians to join in the task.

    https://www.facebook.com/thenationng/videos/1742382665828864/

    He said that security services had since been directed to put in measures around all schools vulnerable to attack to ensure the security of students, teachers and school workers.

    Accordingly he said that he had tasked all the security agencies to work to ensure that the country did not witness any recurrence of any of the incidents.

    “Security chiefs have been warned in clear terms that any lapse on their part will be viewed seriously,’’ he said.

    He promised the released students that they would freely live and pursue their dreams in the country of peace and order without fear, violence or molestation.

    “While parents of Dapchi girls rejoice because of the reunion with their children, I want to appeal to the Chibok community never to lose hope or to despair.

    “We are determined more than ever before to bring back our remaining Chibok daughters and this we must accomplish and that will be soon by God’s grace,’’ he said.

    He reaffirmed that security, anti- corruption and rebuilding of the economy were the main trust of the administration and noted that security would remain paramount in the country.

    The President thanked the security operatives and international partners who made the release of the students possible.

    https://soundcloud.com/thenationnewspaper/buhari-receives-107-released-dapchi-students-says-fg-ready-rehabilitate-repentant-insurgents-1

    Earlier, the DG of Department of Security Services, Mr Lawal Daura, said that 105 of the 111 female students abducted from the Government Girls Science Technical College Dapchi were released following painstaking, back channel dialogue, with the abductors.

    He said that in company of the girls were two primary school pupils aged 11 and 13 years also abducted by the Boko Haram but released alongside the Dapchi girls.

    According to him, the remaining six Dapchi girls had yet to be accounted for but dialogue on them was ongoing.

    He said that the insurgents only condition was their demand was cessation of hostilities and temporary ceasefire to enable them to return the girls at the point they were picked.

    https://soundcloud.com/thenationnewspaper/buhari-receives-107-released-dapchi-students-says-fg-ready-rehabilitate-repentant-insurgents

    He said that the victims were sent to a medical facility for check and mental stability where four were found to have broken limbs and virtually all had skin rashes caused by not taking their bath for the period of the abduction.

    Daura said that the freed students were medically examined and those with ailments treated.

    He suggested that efforts be sustained to secure the release of all abducted persons in the Boko Haram enclave, improve strategic plan to secure all schools in vulnerable locations using all national assets, and improve the coordination efforts of security agents to forestall future incidents.

    He also suggested the expansion of the on-going dialogue toward conflict resolution and mitigation with a view to getting everlasting peace in the entire region.

    Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the freed students, Fatima Bashir, on behalf of the others thanked Buhari for saving their lives and bringing them out of captivity.

    She also prayed God to bless the President.(NAN)

  • Video: Eating time for Dapchi girls in Aso Rock

    Released Dapchi girls, spotted eating and watching  a TV news report on their reception by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Friday.

     

    Read Also:  Freed Dapchi schoolgirls sing National Anthem in Abuja

  • Video: Freed Dapchi schoolgirls sing National Anthem in Abuja

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday received 106 released Dapchi schoolgirls and one boy at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The insurgents, Boko Haram, had abducted 110 school girls from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State on the 19th of February, 2018.

    Dapchi girls

     

     

    Read Also: Buhari receives 106 Dapchi schoolgirls, one boy in Aso Rock

  • Buhari offers amnesty to repentant Boko Haram members

    … Six Dapchi girls unaccounted for – DSS

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday reiterated his desire to offer amnesty to repentant members of Boko Haram sect willing to surrender their arms and embrace peace.

    The President stated this while receiving the recently released students of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He said the government is ready to rehabilitate the repentant Boko Haram fighters back to the society.

    He warned politicians politicizing security issues that the situation would no longer be tolerated.

    The President also warned security agencies against any laxity in the discharge of their duties.

    He said those involved in such laxity would be viewed strongly and sanctioned appropriately.

    The Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Lawan Daura, said 105 out of 111 girls abducted by Boko Haram on February 19 were released.

    He said the remaining six girls have not been accounted for.

    According to him, two pupils of Dapchi primary school were also released with the secondary school girls on Wednesday.

  • Dino Melaye is a noise maker, says Yahaya Bello

    …Dino can’t distract me – Yahaya Bello

     

    Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello on Thursday reacted to a video of Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West, saying he has been roundly defeated and cannot do anything.

    Dino Melaye. in the recently released video on Instagram was seen singing, dancing and mocking the governor.

    Speaking with State House correspondents on the sidelines of the expended National Economic Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Bello claimed that he had not seen the video as he was too busy to listen to a noise maker.

    Bello said, “I don’t know there is any such video from anybody, I am not aware. Maybe, you may tell me what the video is all about, I am not aware if there is any such video.

    “You see Kogi state is a very complex state and I took it over when things were really bad and I am doing my best to ensure that we give quality service to the good people of Kogi state.

    “So any noise maker out there is just disturbing himself. So I just focused on the job as the executive governor of Kogi state, and I am doing my best and the people of Kogi state really appreciate my services to them.” he stated

    On the recent attack in Kogi, he said, “It was a very pathetic situation where about 12 people were killed and I visited that place. It is a place that was neglected by their own people and it was unfortunate that that incident happened and we have constituted Judicial Panel of Inquiry to look into the immediate and remote cause of that attack because this is not the first time that an attack is happening in that particular area.

    “In 2014 it happened where lives and property were destroyed but thank God with the support of the military, police and other security agencies were able to quickly move into action and then that particular incident had been stopped.

    “As we speak arrests are being made and investigations are on and by the time the Judicial Panel of Inquiry comes up with its own findings and recommendations, l am sure there will be a lasting solution to that crisis.

    On People’s Democratic Party (PDP) allegation that the rescued Dapchi girls is an arrangement, Bello said, “I think Nigerians are happy with Mr.President for the good job that he is doing for being proactive and for the quick response by the military and other security agencies in rescuing our Dapchi girls, I think it is a good job that they have done and I really congratulate Mr. President, I congratulate the APC, I congratulate the government and good people of Yobe State, I congratulate the girls and their parents and I congratulate Nigerians.

    “By the grace of God such effort is being made to ensure that the remaining Chibok girls are brought back. You will recall that when Mr. President came, probably the APC might have arranged the kidnap of Chibok girls then. So I think those that are accusing APC or our government of arranging such a kidnap are insensitive to the parents, to the children and to Nigerians. We shouldn’t push politics to certain level. So we should congratulate ourselves and I am sure such incident will not repeat itself in the country.”

    Read Also: ‘Assassination attempt’: Court orders prosecutor to appear with Melaye’s case file

  • How Dapchi girls were brought back, by residents

    It was a dramatic and unexpected return. The Dapchi girls, who were kidnapped about a month ago, were dropped off in the heart of the town.

    Some of the girls relived their ordeal in the Boko Haram custody.

    Security sources told The Nation that troops were asked to withdraw from their camp shortly before the insurgents arrived with the girls in over 11 trucks and went into the town to drop off the girls.

    “Boko Haram drove into Dapchi and dropped off the girls and went back without us firing a shot. We were asked to leave our camp shortly before we saw the insurgents driving through our checkpoint   to drop off the girls,” the source said.

    Kachalla Bukar, one of the parents who received the insurgents in Dapchi, said he had a good time with the insurgents, shaking their hands and taking photographs with them as they exchanged pleasantries.

    “Boko Haram came here very early in the morning. We got information that they were coming into Dapchi with our daughters. Some people ran out of the town when they heard the news that the insurgents were coming into town but some of us whose daughters were abducted refused to go anywhere.

    “We waited until about 8.00am when we saw the Boko Haram bring our daughters back to town. It was a very happy moment for us. We played with the Boko Haram boys. I shook hands with them and even snapped pictures with them and they left.

    “One thing they told us was that we should not send our children back to western education. They told us that what they did was not terrorism, but just to teach us a lesson – that if we dared send the children back to the school again, they would abduct them and not send them back to us. They preached to us and left. We are very happy today,” Kachalla said.

    One of the released girls Khadija Grema relived her experience. She said: “The day they abducted us in the school, they came when we were about to break our fast. Everyone was confused and people were screaming. One  of them said we should come close to him. They were shooting and everyone was confused.

    “We ran towards the gate of the school. When we got there, they called one Babangida to bring the vehicles, and they began to drive us away.

    “Outside Dapchi, they asked who are the ones fasting? And some of us that were fasting were asked to come down from the vehicle. They gave us Maltina, meat, groundnut cake and ‘pure’ water. We had our prayers after breaking the fast. Then we continued our journey, until we got to a place with a big tree. They stopped and we were asked to cook food.

    “After eating, we continued the journey for a long time, until we got to a place where there is river. We came down from the trucks and they asked us to enter some canoes that took us across the river. Across the river, they took us to a house in one village that I don’t know; we stayed there for some time. Then, late in the night, they came to ask us to come out and we were taken to the river to continue the journey until we got to a thick forest. That was where they kept us; and they did not change our location until they brought us back.”

    Speaking on how they were treated by the insurgents,  Khadija said: “They fed us very well; they treated us very well. They did not beat us; they did not maltreat us. The people that took us away were all speaking Kanuri and Arabic. They didn’t tell us any meaningful reason when we were freed and returned. They just said we are Muslims and they felt it was right for them to free us so that we will not suffer. They did not molest or sexually harass us. They even said it was wrong for women and men to sit in the same place.”

    Khadija went on: “Five girls died while we were on the way to the bush; most of them died because they were trampled upon inside the vehicles. They freed all of us, except one girl who they said was a Christian and they held onto her.”

    Khadija’s story on the Christian girl, Leah Sherubu,  was collaborated by  some residents who said she was brought to Dapchi along with the girls but was taken back because she refused to renounce Christianity as instructed by her abductors.

    That story was, however, disputed by some of the girls who claimed that Leah was left behind for the journey because of her strong stand not to renounce her faith.

    Ibrahim   Husaini, a relative of one of the released girls who also had a parley with Boko Haram men when they brought back the girls, said: “Boko Haram came this early morning, telling the general public that they should not allow their  girls to go back to western education system because what they did is not terrorism but the teaching of Islamic right.

    “Apart from that, the girls were brought with the absence of security personnel. I don’t know whether they were close and they refused to go. They just dropped the girls and find their way, telling the general public that the girls should not go back to their school.

    “I asked some of the girls whether they would go back to school and they said ‘no’ because Boko Haram  told them not to go back to school, that if they go back to school and they abduct them, they will not be released any more.

    “We feel very happy because for the past 30 days that the girls were abducted, I have not been happy but today I am in a good mood, I can interact with anybody any time,” Ibrahim said.

    Some of the parents were not happy that the girls were taken to Abuja few hours after they were released.

    They told our correspondent that they were afraid that soldiers who could not protect their children from Boko Haram are the ones who came “to take our children away from us after they were released”.

    “It took a lot of time to convince some of the parents for the military to take the children away to Abuja”, one of the parents said.

  • Dapchi girls: Groups seek improve security at schools

    The Social Advocacy Project (SAP) of Al-Mu’minaat and Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) yesterday urged Federal Government to ensure adequate security measures are in place to prevent a similar occurrence.

    “Our hearts are really gladdened when news broke in the early hours of today (yesterday) that one hundred and one (101) of the abducted Dapchi girls have been released by the Boko Haram.

    They urged government not to relent on the war against terror and the “killer herdsmen.”

    SAP Coordinator Sherifah Yusuf-Ajibade said the PMB-led government cannot afford to relax on securing lives and property of Nigerians.

    Mrs Yusuf-Ajibade said: “We are using this medium to call for the release of the remaining Chibok and Dapchi girls. The intelligence that led to the release should be kept and not breached so that the remaining girls can come back alive and safe.

    “Stories of how girls have concluded that they won’t return to school get to us daily. Once beaten twice shy. No one can blame parents or even girls who concluded that school isn’t safe for them. Experience has taught them and nothing better that experience. This is one of the very important reasons why our government cannot afford to relent on ensuring security at schools.

    “Girl-Child education and women empowerment is at stake. If this apathy isn’t addressed, then the future of women, family may be affected negatively.”

    MSSN Lagos State President Dr Saheed Ashafa appealed that security should be tightened in all schools across the country, adding that attention should be paid to the medical and mental state of the released girls.

    The provision of a safe environment for education is very crucial and germane to the nation’s progress, he said.

    “Situations, whereby students are exposed to various degrees of security threats, are unacceptable. Government at all levels must deploy quality resources to address the issue of security pitfalls in schools and our country as a whole,” he said.

  • Released Dapchi girls moved to theater command headquarters

    The released Dapchi girls have been moved to the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiaya Dole, in Maiduguri.

    The girls were ferried out of Dapchi in a heavy military convoy led by the GOC 3 Division, Nigerian Army Army, Maj. General Ahanatu to the theatre command in Maiduguri.

    Our correspondent sighted the large military convoy at the Mega Station in Damaturu comprising of over 20 vehicles as they stopped to refuel and the girls were given refreshment.

    Journalists were prevented from taking pictures of the girls or talking to any of the girls or the parents as the convoy hurriedly left with the girls to Maiduguri.

    The Chairman of the Forum of parents of the Dapchi Missing Girls Bashir Manzo also informed that he was in the convoy heading to Maiduguri with the girls when our correspondent contacted him.

    Asked on the number of girls that were been taking to Maiduguri, Alhaji Bashir said he cannot categorically tell the number as they were hurriedly asked to leave Dapchi for Maiduguri.

    “We were trying to get the exact number of the girls when the military came and we hurriedly left Dapchi. As it is now, I can only tell you the number by the time we get to Maiduguri”, Manzo informed.

    Details later…

    Read Also:Released Dapchi girls moved to theater command in Maiduguri

  • Released Dapchi girls moved to theater command in Maiduguri

    The released Dapchi Girls have been moved to the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiaya Dole, in Maiduguri.

    The girls were ferried out of Dapchi in a heavy military convoy led by the GOC 3 Division, Nigerian Army Army, Maj. General Ahanatu to the theatre command in Maiduguri.

    Our correspondent sighted the large military convoy at the Mega Station in Damaturu comprising of over 20 vehicles as they stopped to refuel and the girls were given refreshment.

    Journalists were prevented from taking pictures of the girls or talking to any of the girls or the parents as the convoy hurriedly left with the girls to Maiduguri.

    The Chairman of the Forum of parents of the Misssing Girls Bashir Manzo also informed that he was in the convoy heading to Maiduguri with the girls when our correspondent contacted him.

    Read Also: #BBOG to interrogate circumstances of Dapchi girls release

    Asked on the number of girls that were been taking to Maiduguri, Alhaji Bashir said he cannot categorically tell the number as they were hurriedly asked to leave Dapchi for Maiduguri.

    “We were trying to get the exact number of the girls when the military came and we hurriedly left Dapchi. As it is now, I can only tell you the number by the time we get to Maiduguri”, Manzo informed.