Chibok: Parents Join Soldiers In Search Of Abducted Daughters
Anxious parents of some of the girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, have headed for the forest in a desperate search for their daughters.
More than 100 schoolgirls were taken away from their hostels by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Monday night.
Contrary to the claim by the Defence Headquarters on Wednesday night that more than 80 of the girls had been rescued, the Borno State Government said only 30 could be accounted for – as at last night.
The military agreed last night that its information was wrong, saying it was misled.
School Principal Asabe Kwambura told reporters that the report from the military was “not true” and that “only 14 of the 129 kidnapped girls had escaped”.
"Up till now, we are still waiting and praying for the safe return of the students… the security people, especially the vigilantes and the well-meaning volunteers of Gwoza, are still out searching for them. The military people too are in the bush, searching."
She spoke before the release of a statement by Borno State Commissioner for Education Musa Inuwa Kubo, who was at the school for most part of yesterday.
A group of parents, according to the BBC, raised money to buy fuel and water, and had headed into the forest with a local vigilante group to search for the girls.
One father told the BBC he was willing to die in the forest in the attempt to free his daughter. The air force, army, police, local defence units and volunteers have all been involved in the search for the schoolgirls.
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The Borno government, in a statement, said it had fully taken custody of only 30 of the 129 abducted pupils. It said it was still awaiting the return of 99 others who were said to have been rescued by the military in collaboration with civilian volunteers.
You may recall that 14 students had earlier escaped from captivity as explained by Governor Kashim Shettima on Wednesday.
"By our records of 129 students being at the hostel at the time of that unfortunate incident, we are expecting the return of about 99 students who might be among those said to have been rescued by the military... We pray that not just all our students return in good health but also all the security agents and volunteers safely return in good health after a successful and patriotic rescue effort."
Source: Legit.ng
