The Yobe State Government has retracted a statement it issued on Wednesday announcing the rescue of some of the missing Government Science Technical College (GGSTC) Dapchi.
In the statement, the government had said some of the girls had been rescued from terrorists by the Nigerian Army, promising to provide more information.
However, the government has issued a fresh statement retracting the claim.
According to the statement by Mr Abdullahi Bego, the Director-General, Press Affairs, to the Yobe State Governor, the information Wednesday’s statement was based on was not credible.
The fresh statement reads, “The public may recall that we issued a statement last night in which we announced that some of the girls at Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) Dapchi who went missing after Boko Haram terrorists had stormed their school last Monday were rescued by officers and men of the Nigerian Army who are currently executing the war against the Boko Haram Insurgents.
“The Yobe Government has retracted its statement saying that the military rescued some of the Dapchi.
“We issued the statement on the basis of information provided by one of the security agencies that is involved in the fight against Boko Haram and which we had no reason to doubt.
“We have now established that the information we relied on to make the statement was not credible. The Yobe State Government apologises for that.”
The state governor, Ibrahim Gaidam, on Thursday met with community leaders and the Principal and staff of the Girls’ College. The governor also addressed the parents of some of the schoolgirls that are still unaccounted for where he told them to pray and exercise patience as the government and security agencies at all levels continue the work to address the unfortunate situation.
He directed Education Ministry officials and the school administration to work closely with the security agencies to establish the actual number of the girls that are still unaccounted for and to contact parents and the community for possible information that could be useful in the investigation.
The governor expressed concern over the incident at the Girls’ College and, under his leadership, the Yobe State Government will continue to do everything necessary in partnership with security agencies and the Federal Government to address the situation.
