Govt officials almost scuttled Dapchi girls’ rescue – DSS

President Muhammadu Buhari was yesterday told that utterances of government officials  who were not competent to comment on the abduction of the Chibok girls posed challenges that almost marred the rescue of the Dapchi girls.

The Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, disclosed this at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja when Buhari received the freed 105 Dapchi girls.

Daura did not name the officials, but added that the negative impact of social media on otherwise classified operations also almost scuttled efforts to rescue the girls abducted by Boko Haram on February 19.

He put the number of the students abducted from the Government Girls’ Science Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, at 111.

He noted that the girls were on March 21 freed following “painstaking backchannel dialogue with their abductors.”

The DSS said six Dapchi girls were yet to be accounted for and dialogue on them was still ongoing.

He recalled that Buhari had given a clear directive to security agencies to use peaceful options to ensure the timely and safe release of the girls.

The DSS chief said four of the girls were discovered to have broken limbs and were sent for x-ray.

He said almost all of them had one skin infection or the other having not taken bath for over a month.

“They have been medically examined, and those with ailments were treated. The measures are to ensure that they are in good health,” he added.

Daura said the feat so far recorded in the release of the victims was a clear example of collaboration among security agencies.