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FOUR MORE GIRLS than previously thought escaped from their captures in Nigeria last month.
Authorities in northeast Nigeria yesterday revised downward by four the number of schoolgirls held captive by Boko Haram, denying media reports that the hostages had escaped from the Islamists in recent days.
A source at the government in northeastern Borno state who requested anonymity said the number of girls who are currently missing was now 219, not 223 as previously reported by most media.
Police in Borno said 276 girls were kidnapped by the Islamists on April 14 from a secondary school in the town of Chibok.
Hostages
Authorities had said that 53 of the hostages had escaped in the first days following the attack.
But, following closer investigation, it emerged that in fact 57 had run to freedom shortly after the attack but that the parents of four girls had neglected to inform officials that their children had safely returned, according to the source.
Borno’s education commissioner, the point man on the hostage crisis, revealed the revised figures to members of a presidential committee when the panel visited the state capital Maiduguri last week, the source added.
Furious
The commissioner “was furious with the parents for keeping the government in the dark,” about the fact their children were among those who had escaped, the source added.
Nigeria’s remote northeast has a poor mobile phone network and shoddy roads, hampering communication in an area hit hard by Boko Haram’s deadly five-year uprising.
Some local media on Wednesday reported that the girls had escaped in recent days or had perhaps been released by the Islamists after falling ill.
Calculating the number of girls taken in the attack has been hampered from the outset by conflicting reports from parents, officials and the security forces.
Days after the attack, the military said all but eight girls had been freed, a claim that was swiftly retracted.
Some parents in Chibok have insisted that more than 300 girls were taken, but in recent weeks most media have reported the figures provided by police in Borno, which have the backing of the state government.
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Uisce Eireann don’t have crews. It’s local authority staff carrying out the repairs.
@Declan MacAuley: More sub standard services on display. At this one moment in time we’re closer to a third world country than anything else.
Why is “Irish water”providing electricity generators for hospitals? Surely hospitals have their own generators?!
@Zmeevo Libe: Not chance. The lotto size salaries and pensions for the thousands of useless HSE managers, directors and executives has to be paid first.
Silly things like generators etc are not even on the radar.
@Zmeevo Libe: From reading this I understand it to be they are providing generators to the Irish Water sites that have lost power that supply the hospital so any other private people supplied form the site will also have water.
@Chris Lynch: Don’t be coming in here with facts and stuff. It’s ruining the whiners buzz.
Is it 700,000+ people or 700,000+ homes?
@Kevin Farrell: 700k homes, but this includes businesses if I remember the figure correctly.
It’s to rain tomorrow, so put a few containers under each of the gutters down pipes and collect the water for flushing the jacks
lol… ‘progress’
1) Run down existing services.
2) Charge for service.
3) Water meters.
An essential service like water supply and these idiots at Irish Water don’t have backup generators at treatment plants? Unbelievable and shameful.
They say to check their website for local supply issues. Their site shows no issues in my area which hasn’t had water since yesterday morning. They’re jokers.
have your say