[Adesewa]

   
Final year students of the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, Yobe State, will be temporarily relocated to Government Girls’ Secondary School (GGSC), Nguru, in the same state, to enable them prepare for the forthcoming Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE), the Yobe State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Mohammed Lamin, has revealed.
Disclosing this Wednesday in Damaturu, the state capital, he said the state government was making arrangements to transfer the SS3 students to GGSC, Nguru, to prepare for their exams coming up between March and April.
“We are right now making arrangements for the SS3 students to take them to GGSS Nguru, to prepare them for their examination which is coming up in March-April.
“The practical aspect of their exam will start around that time, and we don’t want them to miss any part of their examinations,” he said.
The state had closed the school on February 20, following the abduction of 110 girls by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.
Despite the trauma the families are experiencing, the commissioner believed life has to go on.
“Nguru is also a boarding school, but we are already taking steps to ensure security,” he was quoted by online news site, The Cable, as stating.
According to him, only SS3 girls of the over 900 students will be relocated for now.
The other students will remain with their parents until the government is able to solve the issues on the ground.
Nguru is further north, about 300 kilometres from Damaturu, while Dapchi is about 100 kilometres, from the state capital.
Meanwhile, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Maj.-Gen. Babagana Munguno (rtd.), Wednesday inaugurated a 12-man committee to investigate the circumstances leading to the kidnap of the schoolgirls from the school in Dapchi by Boko Haram terrorists.
Addressing members of the committee, Mungonu said: “The abduction of the schoolgirls by the terrorists was a worrisome incident that requires deliberate, urgent and relentless efforts on the part of government.
“There have been conflicting reports from various quarters on the event that led to the abduction, the number of persons abducted, as well as their identities.
“This does not portray the country in a good light. There have also been reports, especially in the social media, which tend to support some level of inactivity by the relevant organisations.
“Therefore, there is a need to verify the circumstances surrounding the abduction of these girls from the school.”
The NSA went further to provide the terms of reference for the committee, saying it was expected to determine the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the students from the school on the 19th of February.
Other terms of reference include: to determine the exact number of persons abducted alongside their identities as there are conflicting reports in this regard; to confirm the presence, composition, scale and disposition of security emplaced in Dapchi, as well as the school itself before the incident; to ascertain the existing communications in Dapchi and their functionality; to suggest measures that can lead to the location and immediate rescue of the abducted girls; to recommend measures to be emplaced in preventing future occurrences; and any other details the committee may deem necessary.
Mungonu noted that considering the importance of the issue and the urgency required to promptly address the terms of reference and associated concerns, the panel was required to commence sitting immediately and submit its report to him in two weeks.
“I therefore implore members of the committee to be objective in their findings in order to address this ugly development. I must emphasis here also that there is a lot of cynicism outside in the wider society.
“This is not the first time such incident has taken place. On the 14th of April 2014, a lot of girls were abducted from a secondary school in Chibok. A committee was set up by the previous administration to look into the circumstances that led to the abduction of those girls.
“What I want to emphasise to you is that this investigation has to be done with all the seriousness it deserves. This is not going to be another exercise in futility.
“We are using the money of tax payers to carry out this assignment and they are entitled to getting results for whatever this committee does.
“Again, the inclination to push things under the carpet, to be sympathetic to groups or organisations will not be tolerated.
“You must unravel everything. Where people are culpable, it should come out in your report,” he added.
He informed the committee that its report also will be followed by a white paper, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari was extremely concerned about the abduction, “which I have already told you, is beginning to cast a dark shadow on not just the administration but the country”.
“The truth of the matter is that security is all embracing. It is not just for agencies of government.
“There is always an interface between the wider society and security agencies, especially in the context of 21st century issues of insecurity. This time around, your work is going to permeate into the population not just in Yobe State, but probably in Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi and Gombe States and so on and so forth.
“The basic motivation in this very exercise is to get results. I want results; this is not just going to be some theoretical paper or suggestions that will end up on someone’s desk without anything happening.
“We must let the people of Nigeria know that we have taken this incident with all the seriousness it requires and we are going to solve this problem.
“I wouldn’t want a situation whereby you are going to be suppressed by any individual, any group or organisation or agency because we are not going to allow anybody to cover up anything in this matter.
“These are people’s children, our children and we must be seen to be doing the right thing,” he said.
Speaking, the chairman of the committee, Real Admiral Victor Adedipe, assured the NSA of the commitment of the members to ensure that the findings are authentic and unbiased.
Adedipe said that given the current plight of the families, the committee would do its best to unravel the circumstances that led to the kidnapping of the schoolgirls.