You're also responsibly for guarding Dapchi girls - Group tells Governor Geidam over remark against army

macfranc007 February 28, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Nnenna Ibeh

- A group has warned the Yobe state government and politicians against blaming the Nigerian army for 110 schoolgirls abducted in Dapchi

- The Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE) condemned remarks by the Yobe state government blaming the army over withdrawal of troops from the area before the abduction

- The group said it is unfair for the Yobe state government to blame the same institution that rescued the state from the grip of terrorism

A group has said that the blames thrown at the Nigerian army for the abduction of 110 schoolgirls from the Government Girls' Secondary School, Dapchi in Yobe state is unfortunate.

The group, the Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE) also condemned the recent remark by the Yobe state government blaming military withdrawal of troops from Dapchi before the area.

CATE said it is unfair for the Yobe state government to blame the same institution that rescued the state from the grip of terrorism at the slightest instance.

The national president of CATE, Gabriel Onoja, while speaking to journlaists in Abuja on Tuesday, February 27, said such allegations against the Nigerian army amounts to ingratitude to try and play politics with an issue as important as security.

Onoja said it is most unkind to an institution which has lost hundreds of its men and officers and whose personnel have sacrificed their comfort and that of their family to secure the state.

Onoja said it is on record that the military went into Yobe and other surrounding states and freed territories and local government hitherto captured by the insurgents and set many captives free and ensured that normalcy returned to several other communities.

“Those working for their pay masters for Nigeria to fail have seen another fault line in the abduction of ladies girls from Dapchi to blame the security agencies and lower the moral of troops," Onoja said.

"This we must consciously reject to prove our humanity to the world that our love song for the military in recent times was not an act of sycophancy but rather borne out of genuine hearts," he added.

The group further warned that some stakeholders have jumped into conclusion even when no one has taken responsibly for this pure act of political sabotage to reduce the efforts of the administration.

It added that it is also unwise to jump into conclusion that Yobe politicians might be behind the abduction of the girls, it warned that Nigerians have never trusted any politician from the north-east as far as Boko Haram is concerned as they have refused to take any reasonable step in the past to address the Boko Haram issue as an ideology and fallout of a failed political set-up in the Nigeria.

CATE further charged all Nigerians not to judge the war against Boko Haram with sentiments but clear reflection on the immediate past before 2015 and the current situation that has seen Boko Haram taking flight before our military.

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NAIJ.com earlier reported that the Nigerian army and the police have traded blame on security lapses prior to the abduction of 110 schoolgirls from a government school in Dapchi.

The army said troops were redeployed from Dapchi after relative peace had been achieved to other places to consolidate on the fight against Boko Haram

While the army had said security was handed over to the police before withdrawing its troops from the area, the police said there was no formal handing over by the army.

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