Nearly 100 Nigerian girls still missing days after suspected Boko Haram attack, parents say

Ali Abare Abubakar and Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nearly 100 Nigerian schoolgirls are still missing three days after suspected Boko Haram militants raided their school this week in northeastern Nigeria, parents said Thursday.

The news came after government officials in Yobe state said some 50 women remained unaccounted for in the Monday evening attack on the Dapchi village. There have been conflicting reports over the number of girls accounted for and how many are still missing.

Families accuse the government of lying about finding some of their children. “How could they have deceived us all along?” said Abdul Dapchi, 27, whose two sisters are missing.

The incident came four years after 276 students were abducted from their school 170 miles away in the northeastern town of Chibok, sparking the viral #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

Teachers and students ran from the Government Girls Secondary school into the bush outside Dapchi on Monday evening as the girls were taken away in trucks, the BBC reported.

A swift investigation of the terrorist attack of Yobe Girls Secondary School is KEY to enabling FG &Yobe State Government identify the VULNERABILITIES that led to yet another successful abduction of students (Girls) from a Boarding School. #LessonsMustAlwaysBeLearned. — Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 22, 2018

Boko Haram, which loosely translates as "Western education is forbidden," pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015 and has launched a number of attacks on schools. Last year, the Nigerian army claimed the militants had been defeated in military terms, although not eliminated.

More: 'That I am alive today is a miracle': Nigerian schoolgirl describes capture by Boko Haram

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Police and the education ministry initially denied that the students were abducted. Nigerian authorities often downplay similar incidents.

The Nigerian military on Wednesday said it rescued 76 girls and recovered two students’ bodies. Gaidam said Thursday that contrary to claims by the Nigerian army, no girl was rescued. The Nigerian government also admitted Thursday that some girls were missing.

Modu Goniri, 45, a civil servant and father of two girls kidnapped Monday, said he was terrified over what could be happening to his daughters. Escaped and rescued Chibok students have recalled sexual abuse, forced conversions to Islam and forced marriages during their captivity.

"I can't sleep since my daughters have gone missing," Goniri said.

Goniri said parents have counted at least 94 missing girls. "No one can actually say the whereabouts of the girls, they have disappeared completely without any trace,” he said.

Geidam addressed parents Thursday afternoon at the school where the Boko Haram militants struck. He had no information suggesting that anyone knew about the whereabouts of the girls or whether they were rescued, said Goniri and others who attended the meeting.

Dapchi said the crowd of parents and relatives grew incensed when they realized reports that the military had found some of the girls were likely false. “We were all angry,” he said.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari tweeted Wednesday evening that he would do everything he could to bring back the girls: “I share the anguish of all the parents and guardians of the girls that remain unaccounted for. I would like to assure them that we are doing all in our power to ensure the safe return of all the girls.”

I share the anguish of all the parents and guardians of the girls that remain unaccounted for. I would like to assure them that we are doing all in our power to ensure the safe return of all the girls. — Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) February 21, 2018

Some of the girls kidnapped in Chibok in 2014 escaped, and 82 others were released in exchange for five Boko Haram commanders after negotiations with authorities. Scores are still believed to be with their captors.

#BringBackOurGirls spokesperson Sesugh Akume said on Thursday that the chaos reminded her of four years ago when the Chibok girls were taken.

Hundreds of thousands of people called for action using #BringBackOurGirls on social media after that kidnapping, and then-first lady Michelle Obama held up a sign bearing the slogan. Hundreds of thousands also signed a Change.org petition calling for the girls to be returned.

Akume said the military deserves credit for finding the Dapchi girls if that is the case. But if the girls were still in the captivity of the militants, the government is responsibility for dashing the hopes of anguished mothers, fathers and brothers.

“There have been conflicting reports on the incidence among state and federal institutions and officials,” Akume said. “This draws dreadful and eerie similarities with the confusion that surrounded official communication following the abduction of our #ChibokGirls (in) 2014 who have remained with the Boko Haram terrorists for 1,410 days today.”

More: Five Boko Haram commanders released in deal that freed 82 schoolgirls

More: Three years later, nearly 200 Nigerian schoolgirls still missing

Contributing: The Associated Press