Fears grew in northeast Nigeria on Wednesday about the fate of potentially scores of girls who have not been seen since a Boko Haram attack on their school two days ago.
Militants stormed the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Dapchi, Yobe state, on Monday evening. Locals initially said the girls and their teachers fled the attack.
The jihadists gained worldwide notoriety in April 2014 when they abducted 276 girls from their school in Chibok, in neighbouring Borno state. A total of 112 are still being held.
Monday’s incident sparked fears of a repeat and on Wednesday morning some 50 parents and guardians gathered at the school demanding information.
“Our girls have been missing for two days and we don’t know their whereabouts,” Abubakar Shehu, whose niece is among those missing, told AFP.
“Although we were told they had run to some villages, we have been to all these villages mentioned without any luck. We are beginning to harbour fears the worst might have happened.
“We have the fear that we are dealing with another Chibok scenario.”
According to school staff, there were 710 students at the state-run boarding school, which caters for girls aged 11 and above.
Inuwa Mohammed, whose 16-year-old daughter, Falmata, is also missing, said it was a confused picture and that parents had been frantically searching surrounding villages.
“Nobody is telling us anything officially,” he said. “We still don’t know how many of our daughters were recovered and how many are still missing.
“We have been hearing many numbers, between 67 and 94.”
Source: The Guardian