Six hundred and sixty-eight students of the Government Secondary School Kankara, Katsina State are still missing, the school’s register has shown.
One of our reporters, who was at the school yesterday gathered that at the time of the incident, the school had 1,074 students in both its Junior and Senior Secondary sections in session.
A source in the school said, “in the junior section, there are six classes, comprising JSS 1A, which has 58 students, 1B, which has 62 students and 1C, which has 64 students; JSS 2A has 74 students, 2B has 79 students and 2C has 75 students.
“As for the senior section, we have seven classes, which include SS1A, 97; 1B, 108; 1C, 106 and 1D, 118. While in SS2, we have 2A, 74; 2B, 79 and 2C, 80, giving a total of 1074 students.”
Residents of Kankara observe as an air force helicopter conveying the federal government’s delegation landed along Katsina road in the state yesterday
The source added that both SS3 and JSS 3 students have completed their exams, hence they were not in school during the attack.
Daily Trust also gathered that 270 students were rescued from the school on the night of the attack and with the number of those who returned from the bush the following night or those who were reported to have gone home by their parents, the number of those found rose to 406 as on Sunday morning.
However, the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, yesterday said 333 students were still missing as against 668 found by Daily Trust during interactions with sources in the school.
Rescue our children, Parents beg
Parents of the missing students who spoke with Daily Trust have called on the authorities to intensify efforts at ensuring that their children are rescued as soon as possible.
Alhaji Isma’l Kafur said, “It is really disturbing. These are young boys aged 12 to 16, subjected to this terrible condition. We cannot eat or sleep well because we don’t know their condition of health or even their whereabouts.
“My son is 14-years-old and he is in SS1. From our home town, Kafur, there are other four boys who are still missing.”
He said he saw one of the boys who escaped from the kidnappers’ enclave, urging the state government to intensify efforts to rescue the students. He, however, pleaded against the use of force.
Abubakar Ayuba Gozaki said two of his children, Nasir and Salahudden, were among the abducted students.
“When I took home their luggage yesterday, it was as if I took their corpses. Their mothers and other relatives were crying uncontrollably, and that is why I am here again today to see whether we can get any consoling information about them,” he said.
He also called on the government to apply diplomatic methods in rescuing the children, saying “if they decide to use only force, our children will be killed. So we are pleading with the government not to use force.”
‘I can lead a rescue team if allowed’
A parent of one of the missing students who identified himself as Abdurrazak Sani, from Funtua, said he is the commandant of the vigilante group of Jabiri in Funtua and he could lead a rescue team to search for the missing children.
“When I came I asked if something was done about it but I was told nothing was done. I asked some of the security men to follow me to the direction where the children were taken, but they said they had no instruction to do that. I also asked the vigilante to come with me but they declined.
“I took the boy that came with me on a motorcycle and we were able to pick some things along the way, which include students’ uniforms, torch lights, soaps and many other items, which we returned to the school,” he said.
Hajiya Fa’iza Hamza Kankara, who could not control her emotions, said as a mother, she could neither eat nor sleep from the moment she heard about the unfortunate incident. She called on President Buhari and the Katsina State Governor, Masari, to come to their aid.
Another woman narrated how she forced two of her children to go back to school that fateful night after they had pleaded with her to allow them to pass the night at home.
“They really pleaded that they wanted to sleep at home but I forced them to go back to school, none of them has returned. I blame myself for their predicament,” she said.
Source : Daily Trust