The immediate past Chief of Military Intelligence, Air Vice Marshal Muhammad S. Usman (retd), has blamed the Yobe State Government for the abduction of students of Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018, saying there was an intelligence report before the incident.
Over 200 Dapchi schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram Terrorists on February 18, 2018.
Responding to questions before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for screening as a non-career Ambassador, Usman informed the lawmakers that there was an intelligence report before the incident occurred, but the state government failed to play its role.
He said: “There was an intelligence report on Dapchi before it occurred.
“We saw indicators building up, but it was not managed properly.
“State Governors have a role to play because if you are given intelligence, we expect troops to move in, but this does not happen in the North East because of bad roads and difficult terrains.
“There’s need to partner with state governments to deny the bandits the use of forests.
“We need to manage these forests.
“Unfortunately these forests are lying fallow.
“We have partnerships with defence agencies in different countries and it’s critical that we build these partnerships to prevent future attacks.”