Vexed by the erroneous claim by the Yobe State government that the Nigerian Army had rescued some of the students of Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) declared missing, some residents of Dapchi attacked Governor Ibrahim Geidam.
He was in the area to commiserate with the people over the Monday attack on the school by members of the terrorists group, Boko Haram.
During the visit, he was said to have explained that the impression earlier created that the girls were already in the safe custody of the Nigerian Army was wrong.
He also prayed that the students would return home safely.
The people were however unimpressed by the apology and the prayers.
They booed the governor and hauled stones at his convoy.
The screens of some of the vehicles in his convoy were shattered.
It would be recalled that Governor Geidam, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Abdullahi Bego, had announced that some of the missing girls had been rescued and were already in the custody of the Nigerian Army.
He praised and thanked the soldiers for their gallantry.
The claim turned out to be false.
In a counter statement by his media aide who issued the first one, the government regretted giving a wrong information.
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It explained that the earlier statement was based on information by one of the security agents whom the government did not have any reason to doubt.
The latest statement reads: “We issued the statement on the basis of information provided by one of the security agencies that is involved in the fight against Boko Haram and which we had no reason to doubt.
“We have now established that the information we relied on to make the statement was not credible. The Yobe State Government apologises for that.”
The statement quoted Geidam as calling on the people for more patience as government and security agencies at all levels continued the work to address the unfortunate situation.
The statement reads further: “You should contact parents and the community for possible information that could be useful in the investigation.
“Governor Gaidam shares deeply and personally in the grief about the unfortunate event at the Girls’ College.
“Government will continue to do everything necessary in partnership with security agencies and the federal government to address the situation.’’
In a similar vein, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who flew to Damaturu on Thursday for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, appealed to parents and guardians for additional time to search for the missing school girls.
Mohammed who spoke with journalists said the real number of the remaining missing students would be determined in the next few days.
