The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has assured Nigerians that the 129 girls kidnapped from a Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok will regain their freedom.
After the Wednesday meeting of the council, the Information Minister, Mr Labaran Maku, told reporters that the security agencies were already making efforts to rescue the girls kidnapped on Monday night.
At the FEC meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Bala Mohammed and the Minister of State for Health, Khaliru Alhassan briefed the council on the bomb blast that occurred on Monday in a motor park in Nyanya.
The Minister of Information said that the FEC meeting was centred more on the reports by the Minister of the FCT and the Ministry of Health.
According to the ministry, 75 persons were killed by the bomb blast while over 120 are receiving treatment in different hospitals in the FCT.
Maku also said that the council had not been given a detailed report on the abduction of the girls, but said that efforts were on, on the part of the government, to set the girls free.
“There are schools spread across the north east zone and it is not physically possible for adequate security to be concentrated in every school, but since this has happened, the government will make sure that less harm is done to the children,” he said.
Commenting on the strategy of the terrorist group suspected to have abducted the girls, Mr Maku stated that their attacks were focused on “places where people are helpless. That is the strategy they use in Somalia, Kenya, Afghanistan and are now using here”.
The minister also urged citizens to shun negative comments that could discourage the work of the security agencies and appealed for support for the joint security operations going on in the country.
Troops Rescues Some Girls
Just as the meeting was rising, the Director Defence Information and Coordinator, Major-General Chris Olukolade, issued a statement that some of the 129 students had been rescued by troops pursuing the suspected members of the Boko Haram sect believed to have carried out the attack.
The number of the freed girls was not disclosed.
One of the girls had managed to escape from the abductors and told the BBC that they were writing their final exams when the suspected terrorists attacked.
“We heard gunshots and we woke up and three men came into our room. They told us not to panic.
“We later found out that they were among the attackers. They took us to Danboa, then one of their cars broke down and they had to slow down and transfer us to another vehicle.
“Some of the attackers were on motorbikes. We passed about three towns. In the middle of the forest, another car broke down. Ours moved on while the others decided to go for the car that broke down.
“It was then that some of the girls decided to jump down. I also decided to jump down. We ran into the bush and waited until day break before we went back home,” she said, narrating her experience.
Major General Olukolade said that efforts were on to ensure that all the abducted girls were rescued.
