The supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, Wednesday shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the abduction of 129 female students from a government secondary school in Chibok, Borno State in the early hours of Tuesday.
He said Boko Haram insurgents, suspected to be behind the abduction, overpowered the security team attached to the school before taking the schoolgirls away.
He added that a soldier and a policeman died in the incident while the number of those abducted is yet to be determined.
Wike, in the statement by his Special Assistant, Media, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, condemned the abduction of the schoolgirls, describing the action of the terrorists as barbaric and ungodly.
According to him, the ministry is working with security agencies to ensure the rescue of the girls and to provide tighter security in all educational institutions in the North-east.
The action of the terrorists, he said, was following a growing trend of terrorists hitting at soft targets, which the federal government is aware of and that was why it had been doing everything possible to protect women, children and other vulnerable groups and institutions, including schools.
“The nation will not succumb to the plots by terrorists to deny children their right to education,” he stated.
“Wike said that the government feels for the families of the abducted girls over their anxiety for the safety of their children, stressing that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure that the children come to no harm and are reunited with their families,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, 14 of the girls have reportedly escaped from their abductors, but a statement by the Defence Headquarters say only 8 still remain missing as the army had rescued the others. Parents of the abducted school girls however reportedly accused the army of lying today as they claimed only 14 of the students had regained their freedom.
