Abducted girls will be found, says Buhari

·     PDP blames FG for abduction

 President Muhammadu Buhari has assured the Dapchi community in Yobe state that the government is doing its best to secure the release of the abducted school girls of Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe state on Monday.

In a statement by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, Buhari said he has instructed all security agencies to see to it that the girls return safely and the perpetrators face justice.

“When I received the devastating news of the attack on the school and the fact that the local authorities could not account for all the students, I immediately dispatched a high-level delegation on a fact-finding visit to the town.

“I also instructed the security agencies to deploy in full and not spare any effort to ensure that all the girls are returned safely, and the attackers arrested and made to face justice.

“The entire country stands as one with the girls’ families, the government and the people of Yobe State.

“This is a national disaster. We are sorry that this could have happened and share your pain. We pray that our gallant armed forces will locate and safely return your missing family members.

“Our government is sending more troops and surveillance aircraft to keep an eye on all movements in the entire territory on a 24-hour basis, in the hope that all the missing girls will be found.”

Meanwhile, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari of frustrating efforts to rescue abducted students.

The PDP said Boko Haram insurgents were able to repeat the Chibok girls’ abduction because the federal government deceived Nigerians into letting their guards down.

In a statement on Friday, Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesman of the party, said the presidency deceived Nigerians that it had defeated the insurgents “in a bid to score cheap political points for its ill-lucked 2019 re-election bid”.

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“The Buhari Presidency has put Nigerians at risk by deceiving the people and issuing false performance indices suggesting that insurgents have been completely routed out, a situation which made our unsuspecting citizens trust a lie and dropped their guards in the face of real threats and danger,” the statement read.

“Without doubt, if the incompetent All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government had not dished out lies to the people in a bid to score cheap political points for its ill-lucked 2019 re-election bid, more precautionary measures would have been adopted by the affected communities to ensure adequate protection.

“While Nigerians are appalled by APC’s recourse to false indices in critical sectors, it is however, to say the least, an inexcusable height of wickedness to give a vulnerable people a false assurance of security when they are actually in danger.”

The opposition party further decried the All Progressives Congress (APC) for allegedly trying to suppress information on the true situation of the Dapchi abduction.

Ologbondiyan therefore asked Nigerians to hold the presidency responsible for the abduction.