Dapchi abduction: GGSC reopens full activities 9 months after Boko Haram invasion

…Leah Sharibu still in Boko Haram captivity
Nine months after Boko Haram insurgents abducted about 112 schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe State, academic activities have resumed fully in Government Girls’ Science and Technical College.

The school reopened its activities without Leah Sharibu, who was kidnapped alongside 112 other hostages on February 19, 2018 when Boko Haram terrorists raided Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State.

Sharibu is the lone Christian girl still in Boko Haram captivity after herself and her school mates were abducted in Dapchi, Yobe State, in February.

After weeks of negotiations with the government, about one hundred of them were later set free while five were reported to have died. Leah was not released by the terrorists for failing to renounce her Christian faith.

Leah turned 15 on May 14, 2018 surrounded by strangers who are causing her emotional and physical harm.

Meanwhile, the principal of the school, Hajiya Adama Abdulkarim, told journalists in Dapchi on Thursday that at least 80 per cent of the students and teachers had resumed.

She said: “More than 80 per cent of the students have resumed, likewise the teachers. Almost all of them are around except for very few who are away for one or more official reasons”.

She called on the Federal and Bauchi State governments, non-governmental organisations as well as public-spirited individuals to assist the school, adding that the school had taken some measures to alleviate the students’ trauma to enable effective learning.

“Before the incident, there were no matrons in the school, but now, with the help of the local government and permission of the Ministry of Education, we have been able to source for six elderly women.

“We instructed the matrons to always be around, especially in the hostels, after class hours, to comfort and encourage the students.

“On the side of the government, the military, police and civil defence personnel have been around the school at all times,” she said.

She added that the state government had created admission spaces in the school for 700 students in the next academic session.