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Tayo Olanipekun
Nigerian security forces ignored at least five calls made by members of the community to alert the military of the Presence of Boko Haram around Dapchi before 110 school girls were abducted by the militant group, Amnesty International has said.
Around 2pm on February 19, the first call was made to the army command in Geidam, 54km from Dapchi, informing them the fighters had been seen at Futchimiram heading to Gumsa, a village about 30km from Dapchi, followed by additional calls till 6:30pm, the body said in a release on Tuesday.
“The Nigerian authorities must investigate the inexcusable security lapses that allowed this abduction to take place without any tangible attempt to prevent it,” said Osai Ojigho, Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director.
She lamented that the Nigerian authorities “appear to have learned nothing” from the abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno state in 2014 and “failed to ensure protection for civilians in northeast Nigeria, specifically girls’ schools.”
According to Amnesty International, at around 3pm, the convoy arrived in Gumsa, where they remained till 5pm.
It said further that people in Gumsa called Dapchi villagers to warn them that Boko Haram fighters were on their way and that one villager who received such a call informed a police sergeant who promised to notify the Dapchi Division Police Officer (DPO).
At around 6:30pm, when residents were heading to the mosque for evening prayers, Boko Haram members entered Dapchi and even asked for directions to the military post, the local government office and the girls’ school, said Amnesty, quoting eye witnesses.
A police source in Dapchi told Amnesty International that officers fled because they feared the Boko Haram fighters would overpower them.
It , therefore, called on the Nigerian authorities to investigate the” inexcusable security lapses” that allowed this abduction to take place in a version similar to the Chibok abduction, without “any tangible attempt to prevent it.”
A team of Amnesty International researchers visited Dapchi and interviewed 23 people, including girls who escaped, parents of the abducted girls, local officials and eyewitnesses where it also gathered that about 50 Boko Haram militants carried out the abduction using mine vehicles.
