More than 90 Nigerian schoolgirls feared missing after Boko Haram attack

President Muhammadu Buhari dispatched his foreign anddefence ministers on Wednesday to Yobe to investigate thesituation, said Information Minister Lai Mohammed, who was alsoheaded there. But he declined to confirm whether any of thestudents was missing.

A roll-call at the girls' school on Tuesday showed that 91students were absent, said the two people with direct knowledgeof the matter.

'They were crying for help'

"I saw girls crying and wailing in three Tata vehicles andthey were crying for help," said a witness from the nearbyvillage of Gumsa who was reportedly forced to show theinsurgents the way out of the area and then released.

Reuters was unable to verify the witness's account. Nigerianpolice and the regional education ministry denied any abductionshad taken place, but parents and other witnesses also toldReuters some girls were missing.

8 more Nigerian girls kidnapped

10 years ago

Duration 3:23

A girl who escaped from Boko Haram describes the group's attack at the Chibok Government Girls Secondary School

The two sources, several parents and other local witnesseswho spoke to Reuters did so on condition of anonymity becausethey had been warned by Nigerian security and governmentofficials not to disclose the disappearance.

Seven parents told Reuters their daughters were among themissing.

"I hope my daughter is not one of those abducted as welearned that over ninety of them were not seen after goingthrough their register book," one parent said.

Militants went directly to school, witnesses say

The Boko Haram militants arrived in Dapchi on Monday eveningin trucks, some mounted with heavy guns and painted in military camouflage, witnesses told Reuters.

They went directly to the school, shooting sporadically,sending students and teachers fleeing, the witnesses said,adding that some people had returned to Dapchi after spendingthe night hiding in the bush.

Yobe state Police Commissioner Sumonu Abdulmaliki on Tuesdaytold reporters Boko Haram had not abducted any girls in Dapchi.

"They fired shots and left the town toward Gaidam... in thenight, where they abducted three people," he said.

The state ministry of education also said there had been noestablished case of abduction, but shut the Dapchi school for aweek to allow students to be reunited with their families.

Conflicting accounts

Late on Wednesday, Nigerian media outlets gave conflicting accounts of how many girls were missing and how many, if any,had been found.

More than 20,000 people have been killed and two millionforced to flee their homes in the northeast of Africa's mostpopulous nation since Boko Haram began its insurgency in 2009.

Of around 270 girls originally abducted from their school inChibok in April 2014, about 60 escaped soon afterwards andothers have since been released after mediation. Around 100 arestill believed to be in captivity.

Last month, the group released a video purporting to showsome of the Chibok girls still in its custody, saying they donot wish to return home.

Aid groups say Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands moreadults and children, many of whose cases are neglected.