Nigeria: uncertainty over the number of girls abducted in Dapchi

In Nigeria, how many girls were kidnapped in the attack on Dapchi’s boarding school in Yobe State? The information is still pretty vague.

Following the attack on a boarding school by alleged members of Boko Haram on Monday, February 19 in the village of Dapchi, several schoolgirls were kidnapped “rescued” by the army. Families are anxiously awaiting their return, unaware of how many are still in the hands of the suspected jihadists.

Four days after the attack, the number of girls abducted in Dapchi’s boarding school is still uncertain. Police say 111 high school girls are on the line. The governor of the state of Yobe, Ibrahim Gaidam, evokes, for its part, about fifty.

The authorities remain cautious. “I spoke to the commander of the operation on the ground, he confirmed that some girls were found, and there are others who have disappeared. It must be understood that these girls were scared…. That’s why they fled, but they continue to return to their school,” said General Mansur Dan Ali, Minister of Defense.

The attack has not yet been claimed, but the procedure bears the signature of Boko Haram.

The students started running, climbing the wall.

One of the school girl named Yagana, who escaped the night of the attack. She was interviewed by the Hausa service of RFI.

“The majority of us were in the dorm, others were in the restaurant waiting for dinner to be served, and there were those who were in the mosque to pray… That’s when – we started hearing gunshots. The students started running, climbing the wall. Some girls have gone to town, some to the bush, but I assure you that no one has spent the night in the school. I spent the night in a house a few meters from our school, but so far I have not found my sister.”

An official delegation led by the Minister of Information and the Minister of Foreign Affairs is currently on its way to the locality of Dapchi.