Sad tale of how a student returned to school a day before kidnap

Members of the A-Deri family in Dapchi told TheCable how Aisha returned to school on Sunday, February 18, 2018 after a brief illness that had deprived her from attending classes.

The 13-year-old Aisha and SS1 student of the school was kidnapped on Monday night, February 19, 2018 alongside 104 other students by the Boko Haram insurgents that attacked Dapchi.

Fondly called Ummee, which means “motherly”, Aisha is the second daughter from her mother and the sixth from her father.

Sister solicit help for Aisha

Aisha's older sister, Kawu has been soliciting help from anyone in search of her sister via a Whatsapp message.

“We are having sleepless nights and smiles have been stolen from our faces. We the whole family are incomplete without you since your disappearance.

“Ummee, when will you be back to us again, to see that your smiling face, calmness, active response to messages and your love for pictures in our phones?

“Or is that why you prefer to be most in the pictures in our phones knowing that you are going to be missed sometime? If that is the case, missing you is not our wish. Please come back home. May Allah bring you and the rest of your colleagues back to your respective families.”

Step-brother regrets returning Aisha to school

Aisha's step-brother, Kachalla A-Deri narrated how she would have narrowly missed the unfortunate incident if she had not been taken back to school a day earlier.

ALSO READ: Buhari says kidnap of Dapchi girls is a national disaster

“She had been at home for one week because she was ill. The school told her to go and receive treatment at home. It was on that Sunday evening, at about 6pm, that we took her back to school, and the attack was on Monday evening,” he says.

Kachalla also said several of the girls who escaped ran into bushes, hid in tree trunks, but some ran into vehicles suspected to belong to the insurgents.

The agony of a father

Aisha's father, Kadau A-Deri, has expressed optimism that his daughter will return home safely saying she wanted to be a teacher or nurse.

“I am very, very sad. But I am still expecting her to come back in sha Allah. She is a child of good character. She always says she when she completes her secondary school, she will further her studies. She said she wants to be a teacher or a nurse,” he said.

On the attack, he said: “It is as if they (Boko Haram) are watching. Once the security is removed, they attacked the school.”

Boko Haram abducts over 100 female students in Yobe school

On Monday, February 19, 2018, the men of the Boko Haram sect invaded a part of Yobe State including the Government Girls Secondary School in Dapchi kidnapping several students and reigning terror on the school and the village.

According to a forum of parents of missing students, the number of girls in captivity have been given as 105.

ALSO READ: Dapchi residents attack Yobe Governor for lying about girls' rescue

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the girls kidnap saying it's a national disaster.

British military offers to assist Nigeria in rescuing 105 kidnapped girls

The British military has offered to assist the Nigerian Army in the search and rescue operation launched for the 105 girls kidnapped in Dapchi, Yobe State.

The Guardian reports that the British army led by Major Ian Robertson, the general advisor, British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) in Nigeria, recently made this known.

Condemning the attack and kidnapping of the school girls from Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Dapchi, Robertson lamented the fact that girls’ schools have become soft targets for insurgents.

US condemns kidnap of school girls in Yobe

The United States of America condemned the abduction of over 90 school girls from Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe state.

The Spokesperson of the US Department of State, Ms Heather Nauert, at a press briefing on Thursday, said “We are still trying to get all the details about that but we wanted to mention that we condemn in the strongest possible terms the terror attack on a school earlier this week in north-eastern Nigeria.

“The choice of targets including schools, markets and places of worship reflect the brutality of terror organisations.

“The victims in the attacks were girls who were simply seeking an education.”

“We continue to support Nigeria’s efforts to counter the terror group.

ALSO READ: Schoolgirl narrates how Boko Haram kidnapped students in Yobe

“We also support Nigeria’s efforts to enable more than two million displaced in the Lake Chad region to return home safely.

“United States continues to provide humanitarian assistance to those who were affected by the violence,” Nauert added.

111 Yobe school girls unaccounted for

The Police Commissioner in Yobe, Abdulmaliki Sumonu, on Wednesday, confirmed that 111 girls were still unaccounted for following Monday’s attack by Boko Haram insurgents.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the insurgents who attacked the school looted foodstuff, while the staff and students ran into the bush for safety.