Kano, Nigeria (CNN) - In an embarrassing blow to its perception from an increasingly skeptical public, the Nigerian military Thursday retracted a report that nearly all the 129 school girls kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants had been released. Just hours after a parent of an abducted girl claimed the Defense Ministry lied Wednesday about all but eight girls finding freedom, the director of defense said the initial report was not intended to deceive the public. Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolades statement didnt indicate how many of the girls were still unaccounted for. The number of those still missing is not the issue now as the life of every Nigerian is very precious, it said. Blatant lie Distraught parents have waited for news for four days, putting their faith in a military rescue, said Lawan Zanna, father of one of the students. They are shocked that the government resorted to blatant propaganda and a blatant lie, he said. Olukolade said the military received a major breakthrough report from a reliable source who supposedly included information from the principal of the school where the students were seized by gunmen Monday night. But the principal denied releasing any information. I never made that claim to anybody, said Asabe Kwambura, principal of Government Girls Secondary School in the northeastern town of Chibok. A total of 14 out of the 129 students taken away managed to escape and the rest are still being held by their captors. Journalist Aminu Abubakar reported from Kano, and CNNs Faith Karimi and Steve Almasy wrote and reported from Atlanta. CNNs Josh Levs and Vladimir Duthiers contributed to this report.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 18:02:46 +0000
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