Schoolgirls wait for the arrival of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari at the Goverment girls’ science and technical college in Dapchi, Nigeria March 14, 2018. REUTERS/Ola Lanre
Some of the schoolgirls kidnapped from their school in Dapchi, Yobe State, may have been freed by their abductors.
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.”
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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.
Dapchi girls freed by abductors
