Yobe attack: 94 students feared missing after Boko Haram invasion’

About 94 students are suspected to be missing after Boko Haram terrorists attacked a girls’ secondary school in Yobe state Monday night.

The attack on Government Girls Secondary School Dapchi came after sunset when some of the students were breaking their fast which they usually observe on Mondays.

Aishatu Abdullahi, one of the schoolgirls that escaped Boko Haram’s Monday attack on Dapchi town of Yobe State, has said some of the girls were abducted.

According to her, not all the girls escaped the armed insurgents’ attack.

The Police in Yobe state on Tuesday disclosed that no life was lost in yesterday’s attack on Government Girls’ Secondary School, GGSS, Dapchi, in Bursari LGA of Yobe state, by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.

The Yobe state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abdulmaliki Sumonu revealed that there has so far not been any report of abduction of any of the girls in the school.

The insurgents had attacked the town on Monday and carted away foodstuffs at the College, while firing sporadically forcing staff and students to flee for safety.

The traumatized school girl told Premium Times that she saw some of the girls being whisked away by the armed men.

Aishatu, who spoke in Hausa said: “My name is Aishatu Abdullahi. I am a Senior Secondary (SS) student of GGSS Dapchi.

“I was in the school when the Boko Haram insurgents came at exactly the time we were preparing to break our usual Monday fast. They were shooting guns and everyone was confused; then we started running helter skelter but they were able to. We saw some people pushing some of the students to enter their vehicles.

“There were no soldiers at the time of the invasion. It was later after the principal placed a call that some soldiers came and then we began to see helicopter hovering around the village.

”We were in the mosque when the Boko Haram gunmen came into the town.

“According to the accounts of some of my mates, the Boko Haram told those that were caught in the mosque to sit on the floor, including our teachers.

“One of our teachers was injured in his leg and hand – I don’t know if it was from gunshot. We don’t know what later happened, the gunmen later left the people in the mosque”.

In another report published by the media,  a source in the school reportedly claim that the number of missing students was established in the afternoon after a head count.

“After the roll call, 610 out the total number of 704 students have returned. We are still searching for the remaining 94 students.

“We cannot say, because the insurgents went into the students’ hostel, and many of these students scaled the fence and escaped into the bushes. No one can tell if they are abducted or not”, the source said.

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