President Muhammadu Buhari has despatched Minister of Defence, Brig-Gen. Mansur Dan-Ali; Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, to visit Dapchi in Yobe State to assess the reported abduction of schoolgirls.
Mr Mohammed made this known when he briefed State House correspondents after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The meeting, which was held at the State House Council Chamber on Wednesday, was presided over by President Buhari.
Mohammed disclosed that the President had since directed military and other security agencies to take immediate charge and control of Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe, where the incident occurred.
“Mr President has directed military and other security agencies to take immediate charge and control of Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, and inform him of developments.
“He has released a delegation led by the Minister of Defence to Dapchi, to get first-hand information as to what is happening.
“Others in the delegation are Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Information,” he said.
According to the minister, the President is monitoring the situation through direct contact with military and police, saying that Nigerians will be constantly briefed on developments.
The Police in Yobe had on Tuesday confirmed an attack on Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSS) Dapchi, in Bursari Local Government Area of Yobe, by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect.
Commissioner of Police, Abdulmaliki Sumonu, who spoke to newsmen on the incident, said there was no reported case of abduction of any girls in the school.
However, social media reports indicated that 94 schoolgirls were abducted during the attack.
It was also reported that 46 out of the reported 94 missing girls had reappeared.
The insurgents had on Monday attacked the college, firing sporadically forcing staff and students to flee for safety. The insurgents also looted the school’s food store.
It raised fears of a repeat of the 2014 kidnapping of 276 Chibok schoolgirls that shocked the world.
