The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, on Thursday said the Nigerian government would need more time to assess the situation around the community where some schoolgirls were reportedly kidnapped in Yobe State on Monday.
On the issue of the number of missing girls, we cannot give what we are not sure of, until we hear from their parents, we cannot say this is the number, Mr. Mohammed told reporters shortly after he arrived at Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Thursday afternoon. Give us a few more time please.
Mr. Mohammed was amongst the three ministers that President Muhammadu Buhari asked on Wednesday to embark on an immediate fact-finding mission to the state.
Scores of girls are reported missing following a Boko Haram attack on the school Monday night. Conflicting accounts of both state and federal officials over the crisis have further confused and worsened the anxieties of parents and other citizens.
Mr. Mohammeds comments that the Buhari administration cannot immediately give any details about the situation came a day after the state government said some of the kidnapped girls have been rescued and handed over to the Nigerian Army.