Dapchi girls freed by abductors
Some of the schoolgirls kidnapped from their school in Dapchi, Yobe State, have been freed by their abductors.
Sources said the girls were brought to Dapchi by persons suspected to be their Boko Haram abductors.
“The girls have been brought back. They were brought in nine vehicles and dropped outside the school at about 8:00 am,” Bashir Manzo, who heads a group set up to support parents whose children were abducted told AFP.
Five of the girls are, however, feared dead.
About 110 girls were kidnapped from Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, on 19 February, in a raid President Muhammadu Buhari described as a “national disaster.”
Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu described their release as a “thing of joy”.
Amnesty International yesterday said the Nigerian military was warned prior the raid similar to the one that led to the kidnap of Chibok girls on April 14, 2014. It blamed the latest kidnap on the “inexcusable security lapses” on the part of the military.
“The government’s failure in this incident must be investigated and the findings made public — and it is absolutely crucial that any investigation focuses on the root causes,” said Amnesty’s Nigeria director Osa Ojigho.
But the Nigerian military said that Amnesty goofed. A military spokesman Brigadier General John Agim said AI’s report was a “calculated attempt to whip up sentiments and mislead unsuspecting Nigerians.”
AI, however, insisted that between 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm on February 19, at least five calls were made to tell the security services that Islamist fighters were in the Dapchi area.
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