An official of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, has insisted that no student was rescued as claimed by the state government, claiming that troops of the Nigerian Army only counted those that came out of hiding.
The school official, whose identity was not disclosed, made the claim in an interview on Friday.
Following the abduction on Thursday night and the subsequent rescue mission by security operatives, Samuel Aruwan, the state Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, told journalists on Friday that the Nigerian Army rescued 180 persons, comprising 42 female students, 130 male students and eight staff members.
Aruwan also disclosed that 30 students were unaccounted for after a headcount was conducted.
However, the school official refuted the state government’s position, insisting that the security personnel only counted the students who came out of hiding after the gunmen had left.
The official also revealed that the 30 missing students are all female as the gunmen entered the school premises through a perimeter fence close to the female hostel.
“We really don’t understand this story about rescuing 180 of the students. In reality, the students were not rescued,” TheCable quoted the school official as saying.
“When the bandits came, the students ran into hiding. In the process of running to escape, many of them got injured.
“All those abducted were female students because the bandits attacked their hostel which was the closest from where the criminals entered after breaking the fence.
“Some of the female students managed to escape, but about 30 of them were abducted. The truth is that when the security agents arrived the school, all the students came out from hiding and they decided to count them.
“After counting them they moved them to the Old Campus of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) for safety and now they are saying that they rescued them.”
The gunmen stormed the college in large number at around 11:30pm on Thursday and kidnapped several students.
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