The Nigerian army has described as “misleading and unfortunate”, the comment of Ibrahim Gaidam, governor of Yobe, that the military is to be blamed for the attack on Government Girls’ Science Technical College, Dapchi.
A total of 110 girls were abducted from the school when the insurgents struck on Monday, last week.
Gaidam had said: “Before then, Dapchi has been peaceful, there was never such incident. But just a week after they withdrew the troops, Boko Haram came to attack the town.”
However, in a statement on Monday, Onyema Nwachukwu, spokesman of Operation Lafiya Dole theatre command, said troops were withdrawn from Dapchi because the area was “relatively calm and peaceful”.
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He said the army handed the security of Dapchi to the police before troops withdrew.
“Contrary to the comments being circulated, troops earlier deployed in Dapchi were redeployed to reinforce troops at Kanama following attacks on troops’ location at the Nigerian – Nigerien border,” the statement read.
“This was on the premise that Dapchi has been relatively calm and peaceful and the security of Dapchi town was formally handed over to the Nigeria police division located in the town.
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“Troops’ redeployment was therefore done in tandem with the exigencies of operation and not as misconstrued.
“It is thus obligatory, to state that the allegation reportedly attributed to the Governor of Yobe state is misleading and misinforming.”
Reiterating its “commitment and determination” to the Boko Haram war, Nwachukwu called on Nigerians to continue to support the army with credible information on the whereabouts of the insurgents.
“We would also like to assure the parents, government and the good people of Yobe state and indeed members of the public that we will not rest on our oars in the search and rescue of the abducted school girls and any other persons held captive by the terrorists,” he said.
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