…as Reps summon service chiefs
The Federal Government has set up a 12-member committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of 110 pupils of the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19.
The committee was convened by the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), according to a statement on Tuesday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The statement said the committee, which would be chaired by a military officer of the rank of Major General, would comprise one senior Provost each from the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force; representatives of the National Intelligence Agency; Defence Intelligence Agency; Nigeria Police Force; Department of State Services; Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps; two representatives of the Yobe State Government and a representative of the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“The terms of reference of the committee include ascertaining the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls; confirming the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security in place in Dapchi, as well as in the GGSTC before the incident and suggesting measures that can lead to the location and rescue of the girls,” the statement read in part.
The panel, which is expected to submit its report by March 15, 2018, is also saddled with recommending measures to prevent future occurrence.
The statement said the committee would be inaugurated on Wednesday (today).
The announcement of the setting up of the committee came a day after the main opposition political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, asked the National Assembly to probe the incident.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the abduction of the 110 Dapchi schoolgirls.
The members also summoned service chiefs and heads of security agencies to give reports on the security situation in the country.
The investigation, to be conducted by an ad hoc committee, would be concluded within four weeks, the House resolved on Tuesday.
The decision was arrived at after the member representing Dapchi community in the House, Mr. Goni Bukar-Lawal, moved a motion on urgent public importance to bring the plight of the schoolgirls to the attention of the House.
The session, which was presided over by Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, called on the Federal Government to deploy adequate security might to ensure the rescue of the girls.
The resolution came as Dogara, in a strongly-worded statement, blamed the abduction on the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police for failing to perform their duties.
Leading the debate on the motion, Bukar-Lawal told the House that several abductions of pupils by Boko Haram in Yobe State had taken place in the past, but were not reported.
“Note that in 2014, 58 male pupils of the College of Agriculture, Buni Yadi in Yobe State, were murdered while they were asleep,” he added.
Bukar-Lawal informed the House that he was in Dapchi till 7am on the day of the schoolgirls’ abduction before travelling to Lagos.
He stated that he started receiving calls on the abduction immediately he alighted from an aircraft in Lagos.
Bukar-Lawal said, “There was military presence in the eight local government areas in Dapchi until one week to the attack.
“It was surprising to us that the military withdrew its men and one week after, there was an attack.
“In the school, there were over 900 students and the question we were asking is; why did they withdraw the military from Dapchi?
“When the insurgents came, they barricaded strategic locations; they even stationed a truck in front of my house.
“They went to the school and when they saw that the girls were running for safety, they told them not to worry.
“They deceived the girls, lying to them that they were Nigerian soldiers who came to take them to safety. That was how they lined them up and took them to their vehicles.”
A member from Bauchi State, Mr. Mohammed Sani-Abdu, said he suspected sabotage in the manner the abduction took place.
“There are saboteurs in our security system.
“This is a big shame to Nigeria because this incident took a pattern that indicated that our security system is in a serious trouble,” he added.
On his part, a lawmaker from Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Henry Achibong, described the abduction as “the failure of government to cater for the citizenry.”
He also noted that it might be a diversion created by the government to take the attention of Nigerians away from the killings being carried out by the “rampaging” herdsmen.
Achibong said, “We were told that our military have practically defeated Boko Haram.
“How is it then possible that they could abduct this number of girls from a school? Is this renewed abduction not a ploy to divert attention from the killings by herdsmen?”
Lawmakers passed the motion to probe the abduction in a unanimous voice vote.
Meanwhile, the speaker attacked the army and the police for passing the buck on who to blame for the abduction.
He said the two security agencies should rescue the girls instead of engaging in buck-passing.
A statement by Dogara’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, quoted the Speaker as saying, “The statements credited to the army and the police in which they tried to exonerate themselves from any culpability in the embarrassing abduction of innocent girls from their school are highly condemnable.
“This is unacceptable and the House of Representatives; and indeed Nigerians, will hold the security agencies responsible. They all bear responsibility for this unfortunate incident.
“The traumatic experience of the Chibok abduction which is still fresh in our minds should have served as a warning to security agencies to provide adequate protection to all schools in the North-East.” – Punch.
