The Chairman of Presidential Fact Finding Committee on the abduction of Chibok Girls, Brigadier General Ibrahim Sabo, rtd, yesterday said that 219 girls out of the total 276 who were abducted are still missing, two months after.
The missing girls were abducted from their dormitories at the Government Girls Secondary School, GGSS, Chibok in Borno State on the Wednesday, April 14.
Submitting the report of his committee to President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House, General Sabo said that altogether, 395 girls were in the school on the night of their abduction, adding that 276 girls were actually abducted out of which 57 escaped.
According to him, about 119 girls escaped abduction from the school.
”Mr President, the Committee here wishes to lay to rest any residual doubt whether or not any student was abducted at Chibok. There was mass abduction on the night of April 14, 2014. During the siege on the school, 119 students escaped from the school premises, before the insurgents took away their classmates.
”A total number of 276 students were thus, abducted. As of today, 57 of the abducted students have been reunited with their families after escaping along the zig-zag transport route taken by the insurgents, or by bolting to safety when the insurgents laid-by for a rest. Sadly, 219 students remain unaccounted for,” he said.
Commenting further on the committee’s report, Sabo said the Presidential Fact-finding Committee received the full co-operation of all the stakeholders, except a Senator from Borno State.
According to him, a ‘’singular exception was a Senator from Borno who, after agreeing to an appointment with the Committee, turned around to avoid the meeting, on the excuse that he had another appointment, and would thereafter be unavailable for another one month.
”But the senator’s avoidance of an interface with the Committee may well speak to a motive not too difficult to discern.
”Details of the circumstances of GGSS, Chibok, remaining open, in spite of the ravages of Boko Haram in the state, are contained in the report of the committee. Also contained in the report is the detailed explanation of the pain-staking measures taken by the committee in arriving at the number of students still to be accounted for.
”Permit me, Mr President, to convey the burning hope, wishes, and fervent prayers of the parents and relatives of the abducted schoolgirls, who desire that their daughters and wards be rescued alive and reunited with their families.
”The parents and guardians of the schoolgirls are no less gripped by nagging worries over the incident. On May 29, the Committee visited Chibok, where we interacted with community members and leaders, as well as parents and four of the girls who regained their freedom from the abductors.
Source vanguard
