MASS ABDUCTION: PARENTS SAY 234 GIRLS MISSING, 39 ESCAPED

There seems to be alot of uncertainty in the number of girls missing from Chibok. Contrary to the 129 reported by the media, the parents have claimed that about 234 girls are yet to be re-united with their parents, that only 39 has escaped. According to Leadership Newspaper-

The parents made this known when the state governor, Mr Kashim Shettima finally visited the attacked school yesterday.

This was as the search party, made up of mostly parents and volunteers from Chibok had to return home, having been warned of the dangers of moving into the camps of the Boko Haram at the heart of Sambisa without any serious arms.

The parents of the missing students also faulted the claim by government officials that 45 of the girls had escaped and had been reunited with them. According to the parents, only 39 girls had escaped so far.

The principal, Mrs Asabe Kwambura however insisted that the number of girls reunited with their parents was 43. She also claimed that lots of students were in the school on the day of the attack. She said that the total number of girls in boarding at the school was 405 and that 234 were still missing.

Kwambura and the state commissioner for education, Musa Inuwa Kubo, had both said that 129 students that were taking science exams were in the school at the time of the attack and that 45 of them had been reunited with their families, having escaped captivity.

But the parents insisted that the number of students in the school was more than that. They argued that some of the girls who were not taking the science exams were in school, waiting for their friends in science classes to finish their exams before they would all leave the school together when the incident occurred. A non-academic staff member of GGSS, Chibok confirmed this to LEADERSHIP saying, “You know girls with their ways; some would want to wait until their sister or friend is through before they would all go home together.”

At the school premises, Governor Shettima was conducted round the completely burnt down school. The commissioner for education said the school was set ablaze after the students had been taken away by the abductors.

One of the parents, Mrs Shettima Hamma said, “We trailed the abductors of our daughters into very dangerous places inside the forest, but we couldn’t go far because we were warned against going further since we have no sophisticated weapons that could match that of those holding our daughters.

“When we heard that they had attacked the school, we rushed down here, but found our daughters missing. We were asked to register the names of our daughters, which we all did, but up to this moment, we have not seen 234 of our daughters. We have only seen 39 of our daughters that were able to escape on their own.”

Another parent, who did not introduce himself while briefing the governor and other visitors to the school, recounted in detail how they had on their own, without any security personnel trailed the abductors into Sambisa Forest, a distance of over 50km from Chibok.

He described how they had ventured into the forest along a path following directions given them by a number of people they met along the way, until they arrived at a point where they were advised to go no further, as it was too dangerous.

He said, “We continued to move on until we met an old man who warned us that if we ventured into that part of the forest without any security personnel following us, we would all be killed together with our daughters. He advised us that we go back to Damboa and get more security agents to help, lest we embark on a most dangerous mission.”

A man, Musa Muka, who could not hold back his tears as he kept weeping uncontrollably, told LEADERSHIP that his 17-year-old daughter was among those kidnapped and taken away.

“I have not seen my dear daughter, she is a good girl. We plead with government to help rescue her and her friends. We pray nothing happens to her.”

Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume who was there with the governor as a representative of the area at the Senate, could not control his emotions as he addressed the parents, describing the abduction as the worst thing that could ever happen to any parent.

“We are all touched by the incident concerning the abduction of our daughters. I am a father too; I have 10 children and every day, I put my children in the position of these girls currently in captivity and I weep for them, I weep for the poor parents. My heart goes out to you all, so is our governor here. But you should know our limitations here in the state concerning the security deployment. Neither the governor nor I has control over our security; we can only plead with the federal government to assist us. But be assured that we are doing our best to see that these girls are freed in one piece.”

Governor Shettima who also could not control his emotions, described the abduction as the worst of Boko Haram’s actions and said the security operatives were doing their best to see that the girls were rescued unharmed.

On the controversy surrounding the actual number of the missing girls, the principal, who appeared very confused, told journalists that, “The total number of missing female students now stands at 230. Initially before the arrival of the governor, 234 were missing, but we just recovered an additional four female students.”

She further said that, “The number of girls recovered so far is 43. It is only 43 girls we have recovered and handed over to their parents.”

On why she had given an initial figure of 129 girls missing, the principal said, “The 129 I gave were those that sat for Physics exam on the day they were abducted. The total number of female boarding students is 405; this means that out 405, 230 are still missing.”

She insisted that the total number of abducted girls was less than the 234 the parents were quoting.

“But the other issue is that out of the 230 girls missing, some of them had run home to their parents and we have not received any information on them. It will also interest you to note that the school was initially Government Girls Secondary School Chibok but in 2011, it became Government Secondary School Chibok, which now allowed for male students. So the entire student population, including day students who are boys, is 530,” Mrs Kwambura said.