110 Dapchi Girls still unaccounted for, FG admits

The Federal Government yesterday confirmed that 110 students of the school, are so far unaccounted for.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, revealed the figures after a meeting between a Federal Government delegation and representatives of key stakeholders in Damaturu, the Yobe State capita.
Present at the meeting were senior officials of the state government, the college principal, parents of the missing girls and representatives of security agencies
The minister said, based on briefings from the Principal of the College, Hajia Adama Abdulkarim, and the state Commissioner for Education, Mohammed Lami, 110 have not been accounted for. He said 906 students were in the school on the day of the attack.
The minister also said the Federal Government has directed the police and civil defence authorities in Yobe State to immediately deploy their personnel to all the schools in the state in order to ensure the security and safety of the students and staff.
He said the Federal Government has stepped up efforts to rescue the girls and return them safely to their parents, saying the security agencies are working on many leads regarding the whereabouts of the girls.
A statement from the minister’s office said: ‘’This is the second time in four days that a Federal Government delegation would visit Yobe State since the unfortunate incident.
This is a measure of the seriousness with which we are addressing the issue. The security forces are leaving no stone unturned in their search for the girls.
‘‘We are back here in Yobe as part of efforts to provide some succour to the parents of the girls, to let them know that they are not alone and also to reassure them that we will not rest until we have found the girls. We will carry the parents along on the efforts we are making,’’ he said.
For his part, the Minister of Interior said the delegation embarked on the trip in order to get the facts right ‘’so that the approach to the solution can be correct’’.
‘‘We must get back the girls and also ensure that this does not happen again,’’ he said.
The Federal Government delegation, which comprised the Ministers of Information and Culture as well as that of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retired), held an enlarged meeting that was attended by Governor Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State; members of the state cabinet, the Principal and Vice Principal of the school, representatives of the parents of the missing girls and security agencies, among others.