Nigerians on social media have attacked the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Thursday, following a tweet in which she claimed that the 333 schoolboys abducted in Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, have been rescued.
“The 333 boys captured in Katsina have been rescued,” Dabiri-Erewa tweeted Thursday afternoon.
Gunmen had attacked the school on December 11, after which Aminu Masari, governor of Katsina, had declared 333 students missing.
Seventeen of the students were said to have been found on December 14.
In a now-deleted tweet, Dabiri-Erewa claimed that the 333 students had been rescued, and praised the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for ensuring the safe release of the schoolboys.
“Yaaay. The 333 boys captured in Katsina have been rescued. Allhamdullihah! @MBuhari administration has brought back our boys. #BringBackOurBoys.Our boys are back,” Dabiri-Erewa wrote.
Her tweet sparked outrage on Twitter as many Nigerians accused her of lying.
After deleting the tweet, Dabiri-Erewa initially claimed that the handle that Tweeted the information was not hers despite evidence to the contrary.
She later claimed that her account was hacked and was regained from the supposed hacker in less than five minutes.
“Pls don’t credit any post on Katsina boys to my twitter handle,” Dabiri-Erewa tweeted with the same Twitter account she’s denying was not hers.
“I lost control of my handle in the last couple of minutes, along with my Instagram. I have recovered and changed my password.”
Her statement has since elicited anger on Twitter, with many accusing her of being insensitive to the state of the schoolboys abducted by Boko Haram.
Earlier on Thursday, Boko Haram released a video showing that it has custody of the students abducted from a government secondary school in Kankara, Katsina State.
In the six-minute-and-30-second footage, tens of young boys could be seen behind him, all covered in dust and appearing to be within a forest area.
The relatively older schoolboy who spoke urged the Nigerian Government to settle amicably with their abductors and advised against the use of military force in rescuing them.
“Please, you have to dissolve any gang of vigilantes, close any kind of schools, excluding Islamiyyah [Qur’anic schools]. All the troops who have come here to help us, please send them back,” one of the abducted schoolboys pleaded in the released video.
Some parents of the abducted on Wednesday converged on the premises of the school expecting the return of their children as promised by the government.
Their reported release comes six days after they were abducted.
The abduction was initially blamed bandits, who are active in the unstable region where kidnappings for ransom are common. But Boko Haram said in audio message that it was responsible for the kidnap.
Nigeria Army on Monday said it had located the hideout of the men, and that a military operation was under way to rescue them.
See the reaction from Nigerians:
