Why we withdraw troops from Dapchi before abduction of schoolgirls – Operation Lafiya Dole

Oredola Adeola

After days of denying allegation made by Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, Yobe state governor, that the Boko Haram attacks in Dapchi and Buni-Yadi years back were aided by military withdrawal of troops from those locations, the Nigerian army has admitted that the authority withdrew the troops from the community before girls’ abduction.

The Nigerian Army through the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole, the military’s anti-insurgency command in the North-East, on Monday, admitted that troops were redeployed from the Dapchi area before the abduction of the schoolgirls, affirming that it handed over the security of the area to the Nigeria Police Division.

The Deputy Director, Army Public Relations and the Theatre Command’s spokesperson, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said the military should not be blamed for the abduction of the schoolgirls as the troops handed over a “peaceful and calm situation” to the police.

Nwachukwu said the troops were redeployed in Kanama, on the Nigeria-Niger Republic border, to combat Boko Haram terrorists who were attacking a military location in the area.

The army spokesman said the military would not engage in a blame game with the Yobe State Government as it was making “efforts to rescue the abducted schoolgirls.

Several communities and local government areas that were hitherto under siege of the insurgents have been liberated and the insurgents pushed out. security of the liberated communities and towns falls in the hands of the sister security agencies.

The army spokesman however assured the parents of the missing Dapchi school girls the military to rescue their children and other persons held captive by the Islamic militants.

In reaction to the allegation by the army spokesman, Sumonu Abdulmaliki, Yobe State Commissioner of Police in a statement signed and released by him, denied that there was no time the military handed over Dapchi town to the police authorities.

According to him, Yobe state was a security emergency state being monitored by security agencies.He said the military neither handed over any location to the police nor informed it of its withdrawal from any area.

The Police Commissioner said, “The statement by the military… is not correct, as there was no time that the military informed the police of its withdrawal or handed over its locations in Dapchi town to the police.

“The whole of Yobe State is still under security emergency with the police, the military and other security agencies battling to ensure a lasting peace.”