Over 100 school girls still missing after Boko Haram attack: Nigerian police

Lagos :  As many as 111 girl students were still unaccounted for following Monday’s attack by Boko Haram insurgents on a government school in Nigeria’s restive northeast Yobe state, police said on Wednesday.

Some 815 out of the 926 students were physically seen in the Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, as on Tuesday, Abdulmaliki Sumonu, police chief in charge of the state told reporters in state capital Damaturu, reported Xinhua.

There are reports that more girls have returned to the school after the head count, he said, noting that there were no abductions or deaths inside the school.

“I asked the school’s principal if there were abductions or deaths in the school and she said no.

“I am not unaware of the rumours going on, I want to appeal to the press and society to please cooperate with the security agencies in this situation,” he said.

Sumonu also said that security forces had pursued the insurgents in a new location where they were reported to have been seen.

The Boko Haram insurgents attacked the school on Monday and looted foodstuff, while the staff and students ran into the bush for safety.

Boko Haram has been trying since 2009 to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria, killing some 20,000 people and forcing displacement of millions of others.

IANS