Police, Schools Deny Abduction Of 20 Borno Girls

The police authorities in Borno state yesterday denied the claims that insurgents abducted 20 girls during a recent attack in Konduga local government.

Also, the management of Government Girls Secondary School, Konduga has denied knowledge of any student missing after the attack on the town early last month.

The police said they were amazed by the general outcry within and outside the country over the alleged abduction of the 20 girls, even as they insisted that there was never a report from parents or the school management of any missing student.

In an interaction with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Maiduguri yesterday, the state police Commissioner, Lawan Tanko, said, “I still cannot figure out where this report is coming from that 20 girls were abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents during the attack on Konduga.

“I was in Konduga 24 hours after the incident with the state governor and we spent over four hours in the town inspecting the damages done, and at no point was I or the governor informed that 20 girls were abducted,” he said.

But an official of the Department of Security Services in the state said there was an abduction of girls at the Government Girls Secondary School Konduga, but the actual number was not certain.

A senior official of the Borno State Ministry of Justice, who pleaded anonymity, said that the matter had not been reported to the ministry.

An aide to the schools' principal said that: “Some people have come to ask the principal if any of the students were abducted during the Boko Haram attack on Konduga. I heard her saying none of the girls was abducted, but that the students were warned by the gunmen to stop going to school and get married.”

 
 
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