Increased Anxiety Over Fate Of Abducted School Girls

SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, (THEWILL) â€' Anxiety is beginning to mount over the fate of the remaining Borno school girls who were abducted on Monday by Boko Haram gunmen at the Government Secondary School, Chibok, following the fruitless search for the kidnapped girls by their parents and volunteer vigilante groups .

The anxiety of the parents was heightened following the claim by the Defence Headquarters that only eight students were left in captivity as 121 of the 129 abducted school girls have been freed and released to their principal.

The information and claim which were later refuted by the principal of the school resulted in the total loss of confidence in the military, which also later retracted its claim.

The parents expressed doubts on the ability and sincerity of the military to effect the release of the students who are believed to be holed up in the fortress of the insurgents in the Sambisa forest.

Local sources told THEWILL that some of the parents, aided by some volunteer vigilante groups, had gone into the bushes on Thursday morning in search of the missing students with six four-wheel drive vehicles and motorcycles for over nine hours.

They were however said to have returned disappointed without a clue on the whereabouts of the students.

A member of the search and rescue team numbering about 200, Apagu Murva, told THEWILL that their nine hour search in the Sambisa forest yielded no result in locating the remaining 99 abducted students.

He said the 200-member rescue team divided themselves into four groups of 50 men each with each group going into different directions during the exercise .

He said the four groups which later met at Chibok in the evening could only conclude that it may take a little while to get the students reunited with their families.