Following the abduction of 100 pupils of Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok Borno state, the state governor, Kashim Shettima, has promised a reward of N50m ($300,000, 215,000 euros) to anyone who provides useful information leading to the rescue of the girls.
Shettima made the offer on Wednesday in the state’s capital, Maiduguri,while speaking with journalists,after 14 of the kidnapped girls escaped from their abductors.
Outraged Shettima said the action of the kidnappers was not in line with Islamic rules of war engagement.
“In Islam, women and children are spared during war,” Shettima said.
Three of the girls who escaped recounted their ordeal about the attack at the home of the area’s tribal chief.
Lawal Zanna, whose daughter was also abducted, told journalists and security agencies that the girls were taken to Konduga, a well-fortified Boko Haram stronghold.
“The girls told us they were taken to Konduga district part of Sambisa forest by their captors”, Zanna said.
“My daughter is not among the lucky girls but their escape and the news on the whereabout of the other girls has given me more hope”.
Some escapees recounted that they were able to trick one of the guards into allowing them use the bathroom unwatched. They explained that it was Fulani herdsmen who eventually helped them get back to Chibok.
Others said they escaped by jumping off one of the trucks when the one of the vehicles broke down and caused a distraction for gunmen.
Meanwhile, the country’s information minister, Labaran Maku has told Journalists in Abuja that a manhunt has been declared in the area.
“Our security services are on a manhunt for the girls”, Maku assured. “Kidnapping young children is exactly what makes this group of terrorists in Nigeria among the worst in the world”.
Also,the senator representing the district, Sen. Ali Ndume, told journalists that the search for the girls has been extended to Cameroon, to cover the length and breadth of the forest.
“They are now combing the forest to rescue the schoolgirls. They are aided by surveillance helicopters notwithstanding the vastness of the forest”, Ndume said.
