Nigerian government vows to free 129 kidnapped female students

The Nigerian military on Wednesday afternoon confirmed the number of kidnapped girls to be 129.

The Nigerian Government on Wednesday said it was doing everything possible to ensure the female students abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, regain their freedom unhurt.

The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, said this while briefing journalists at the end of the weekly meeting of the Executive Council of the Federation, FEC, chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Over 100 students of the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State were kidnapped on Monday night. The Nigerian military on Wednesday afternoon confirmed the number of kidnapped girls to be 129. It said it freed some of the girls on Wednesday but did not state the number freed.

PREMIUM TIMES had also reported how some of the teenage girls escaped during the kidnap.

Mr. Maku also said the members of the Council dedicated time to review reports from the Ministers of the FCT and Health on the Monday morning Nyanya bomb blast that claimed at least 75 lives.

The Information Minister, alongside the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Bala Mohammed, and Minister of State Health, Khaliru Alhassan, announced that Council has not been given detailed reports on the kidnapping.

“The criminality of kidnapping young children is what makes the terrorism in Nigeria as one of the worse. What will they be doing with these young children if they claim that their purpose is on religious piety?
“Unfortunately, this has happened but we will make sure that we get the children back. We will make sure that further harm is not done to these children,” Mr. Maku said.

Mr. Maku said it is impossible to deploy security officials to all schools in the North-East; thus implying that the Nigerian Government cannot guarantee the safety of students in that region. He also did not speak on concrete measures being put in place to avert such crisis, only saying that the government will ensure the abducted girls are returned to safety.

“We assure Nigerians that we will make sure that we get those girls back quickly. Our most important concern is to make sure that further harm is not done to those children. We are pushing their abductors and we will get them very soon,” he said.

Don’t condemn security operatives

The Information Minister asked Nigerians to refrain from condemning security officials who were doing their best to secure the country.

“The strategy they (terrorists) use in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kenya, Somalia and other countries are also being applied here. What this tells us is that we should not be too quick to make condemnations that will discourage security operatives.

“One of the things that we will require is that negative comments that will discourage security agencies should not be encouraged,” he said.