Nigerian teachers, students condemn abduction of school girls

LAGOS, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Organized bodies of teachers and students in Nigeria on Monday condemned the abduction by insurgent groups of some school girls from the Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi in the country's northeast Yobe State on Feb. 19.

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), in a statement issued by Mike Ike-Ene, the union's Secretary-General, said with the development, it had become evident that students, teachers and the academic activities within the north-eastern part of Nigeria remain helpless.

He said the NUT is distressed by the news of the terrorist attack on the school, with the resultant missing of 110 female students of the school.

"We are not happy with the security operative's inability to gather enough intelligence to avert the situation," he said, adding that they were also not happy with the failure on the part of the security operative to quickly move into rescue of the female students from the fleeing terrorists a week after the school was attacked.

According to him, the 110 missing female students from the school have brought about fresh memories of the Chibok school girls, 113 of whom remain in Boko Haram's captivity since their abduction in April 2014.

Ike-Ene, however, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the safe return of the Dapchi and Chibok school girls.

Similarly, President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Chinonso Obasi, in a statement, urged the relevant authorities to ensure the immediate rescue of the girls.

Obasi said kidnapping innocent students was a threat to national development.

The NANS president said students were joining the parents of the abducted school girls in prayers and urged the authorities to protect Nigerian students.

Meanwhile, Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, said the government had directed the police and civil defence authorities in Yobe to immediately deploy their personnel to all the schools in the state in order to ensure security.

The minister told reporters that the government had stepped up efforts to rescue the girls and return them safely to their parents, saying the security agencies were working on many leads regarding the whereabouts of the girls.

No fewer than 110 schoolgirls in Dapchi are still unaccounted for after a raid by Boko Haram insurgents on Feb. 19. Enditem