Yobe schoolgirls’ abduction: No efforts will be spared to bring them back – Buhari

• PDP blames Presidency

 Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye and Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari, has described Monday’s attack by Boko Haram of Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, where 94 were declared missing, a national disaster.

This is even as he has assured the families of students that no effort will be spared to bring succour to them.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted Buhari, as telling the families, “when I received the devastating news of the attack on the school and the fact that the local authorities could not account for all the students, I immediately dispatched a high-level delegation on a fact-finding visit to the town. I also instructed the security agencies to deploy in full and not spare any effort to ensure that all the girls returned safely, and the attackers arrested and made to face justice.

“The entire country stands as one with the girls’ families, the government and the people of Yobe State. This is a national disaster. We are sorry that this could have happened and we share in your pains. We pray that our gallant armed forces will locate and safely return your missing family members.

“Our government is sending more troops and surveillance aircraft to keep an eye on all movements in the entire territory on a 24-hour basis, in the hope that all the missing girls will be found.”

Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has said President Muhammadu Buhari should be held responsible for the abduction of some schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe State and several other atrocities committed by insurgents against citizens, particularly in the northern part of the country in recent times.

The PDP, in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, yesterday, said the Presidency puts Nigerians at risk by dishing out false information on the defeat of Boko Haram insurgents in the country.

According to the opposition party, propaganda by the Federal Government made the citizens drop their guards in the face of real threats and danger.

The statement reads in part: “If the incompetent All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government had not dished out lies to the people in a bid to score cheap political points for its ill-lucked 2019 re-election bid, more precautionary measures would have been adopted by the affected communities to ensure adequate protection.

“While Nigerians are appalled by APC’s recourse to false indices in critical sectors, it is however, to say the least, an inexcusable height of wickedness to give a vulnerable people a false assurance of security when they are actually in danger.

“Furthermore, the PDP decries as iniquitous, the efforts by APC-controlled federal authorities to suppress information on the abduction, leading to conflicting reports and frustrating of rescue mission, just because they seek to hide the failures of the Presidency in ensuring the safety of Nigerians, particularly in the north.

“We were shocked that in their proclivity to deceive, the authorities earlier informed Nigerians that some of the girls have been recovered only for the news to turn out to be false.

“While President Buhari has not uttered any word of assurance, government’s visiting team headed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, only had a whistle stop at the Dapchi school and made no effort to interface or even commiserate with community leaders and parents of the abducted girls, while completely shutting out the media. This only further confirms APC’s insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians.

“It is painful that Nigerians are faced today with a government that has been heavy on propaganda and issuing of false statistics, while playing down on several atrocities committed against defenseless citizens…

“Nigerians and indeed the world must hold the Buhari Presidency and the APC-led Federal Government directly responsible for the abduction of these defenceless schoolgirls, as well as, the killings in our country today.

“While the PDP stands with the parents of the abducted girls at this moment of their harrowing pains and prays for their speedy return, we implore our security forces to insulate themselves from APC propaganda, take very decisive professional steps to recover our girls and end the killings in our country.”