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Dapchi Kidnap: Yobe gov blasts Defence Headquarters

Published

8 years ago

February 26, 2018

Yobe Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam has explained how the Boko Haram attack on the Government Technical College came a week after the Nigeria military withdrew troops from the area.

He said if the soldiers had been on ground, the abduction of the over 100 schoolgirls missing after the attack would not have been possible.

“I blame the whole attack on Dapchi on the military and the defence headquarters who withdrew troops from Dapchi. The attack occurred barely a week after the military withdrew the soldiers from there,” the Yobe governor said while hosting Borno Governor Kashim Shettima on a sympathy visit.

“Before then, Dapchi has been peaceful, there was never such incident. But just a week after they withdrew the troops, Boko Haram came to attack the town.

According to him, this was not the first time withdrawal of soldiers would make the state vulnerable.

In 2013, a secondary school in Buni-Yadi was attacked a week after the military removed soldiers guarding the town. According to him, at least 29 students were killed in that attack.

Shettima who was in Damaturu on behalf of the Northern Governors’ Forum which he heads, expressed his sympathy to the government and people of Yobe ,

“On behalf of the 19 Northern Governors’ forum, we have come to show our sympathy and let you know that we are with you in this traumatic period,” he said.

Mr. Shettima called on the security agencies to ensure the abducted girls are rescued on time.

About 300 secondary schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, when PDP government led by former President Goodluck Jonathan held sway.

The abduction sparked an international outrage that gove birth to a protest movement on social media–#BBOG.

The group, led by a former education minister, Obi Ezekwesili, heckled Jonathan then, has continued to do the same to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration which has been making effort to rescue the girls a few at a time.