TWO hundred and seventy-nine schoolgirls kidnapped from Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State, have regained their freedom after spending four days in bandits’ captivity.
Bello Mattawale, governor of Zamfara State, made this known via a tweet on his official Twitter handle @Bellomatawalle1 Tuesday morning.
“Alhamdulillah! It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity.
“This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe,” Mattawale said in the tweet.
On Friday, February 26, 317 schoolgirls were kidnapped and whisked away from their school at about 1am by armed bandits. With 279 schoolgirls released, 38 of them are still in captivity.
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Concerns for remaining schoolgirls
According to a report, only 279 of the 317 schoolgirls have been released from captivity, but the fate of the remaining 38 schoolgirls is still unknown.
Mohammed Shehu, police public relations officer, did not answer calls nor did he reply to a text message sent to him regarding the remaining schoolgirls.
In some other cases of abduction or kidnapping in Nigeria, there has been a culture of leaving one or some of the abducted students behind.
Boko Haram terrorist group kidnapped 276 schoolgirls of Government Girls Secondary School on the 14th of April 2014 in Chibok town of Maiduguri in Borno State.
More than eight years after, the whereabouts of 112 of these schoolgirls is yet unknown as there is a fleeting effort by the Nigerian government to rescue them, according to the Bring Back Our Girls Movement.
Like the remaining 112 Chibok schoolgirls, the whereabout of Leah Sharibu, one of the schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi in Yunusari Local Government Area of Yobe State, is still unknown as there are no visible efforts to secure her release from the Boko Haram terrorist group that abducted her in 2018.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94