Dapchi - A tale of Sorrow

The fear of the unknown limits our inner strengths.

I had mixed feelings leaving Nguru. Emotions running deep as I was leaving behind new friends - Famillies and Kids who in such a short time I had bonded with. I was at the same time eager to see Wale, my friend who was posted to Busari Local Government of Yobe state.

Wale and I had been friends for years, being colleagues working for the same noodle factory in Abuja until out resignation at the sameperiod. They were lodged at the Busari Local Government Lodge in Dapchi, the headquarters of the Local Government Area.

Zahra and I departed Nguru at about 2pm and honestly the four hour ride wasn't one to look forward to considering the terrain. Zahra, a Kanuri beauty was a youth Corp member also attached to my team in Nguru. She also wanted to leave Nguru urgently so as to meet up with other commitments at Damaturu the state capital.

After a bumpy ride, the bus parked off the road beside Government Girls Science and Technical College Dapchi and I dropped off having said my farewells to Zahra hoping to see her in Maiduguri the following weekend.

The sight of the school reminded me of my home and how much I missed my family back in Abuja. Although in a way I felt odd that the school was located on a lonely road with no form of security personnel in sight, after the few checkpoints between Nguru and here.

I called up Wale and he came to pick me up alongside Daniel another friend we made during training. The lodge was just a stone throw from the school, but we stopped over to buy some Kosai (bean cakes) and Danwake (Soya Beans pudding) for dinner.

I must admit that the sun sets quite early in these parts of Nigeria. At about 7pm it was already getting dark and worse was that there was a power outage (Something so rare in Nguru).

Hardly had we finished eating over our usual chatters and bants when we heard a staccato of gunshots in the distance. Visibly shaken we locked up the doors and windows and laid flat on our bellies, each one saying a prayer. For what seemed like a long night we kept hearing the echoing gunshots, frantic wails and fierce voices barking inaudibly in the distance.

After a while the sporadic shots lessened and we heard sounds of vehicles driving off into the night and then silence.

The silence must have lasted only a few minutes after which we heard female voices in panic calling out to others, and the sounds increased as villagers and other inhabitants of the village started coming out in shock. The wailing began.

I remember asking my hosts "What just happened? We were all visibly shaken as nine of us expected this. The screams, wails and cries didn't stop for any moment through the night. We laid there awake and I could no longer control my tears because I feared so many lives must have been lost.

By 5am, the Local Government Security Officer called to be sure we were ok. He then explained that the insurgent group Boko Haram had attacked the school and carted away foodstuff from the school storehouse. We then stepped out of hiding and went to the scene. Bullet shells were lying down everywhere and there were bullet holes in parts of the school bulding. There was an air of pandemonium, students were in tatters, ragged in a state of disarray. You could see the anguish in their eyes, the pain of running deep into the desert night to hide from the assailants.

We started hearing versions of the attack although the common story was that of the assailants shouting at the girls to board their vehicles as they were there to rescue them. The insurgents came in the night in military gear, their vehicles also in military color but for the Arabic inscription "Allahu Akbar" boldly on the vehicles they would have been mistaken for military personnel. Another thing that have them away was the heavy presence of their motor bikers for which had been banned in that area.

They had carted away with foods stored at the school. Most of the inhabitants children were students of the school so it was not surprising to see the mammoth crowd there. It was then we heard of students being kidnapped but the number wasn't ascertained.

Then came the military, the police and some media personnel. The military in their usual style started combing through the school, while the police were calming the situation asking the crowds to disperse.

We left the crowded area and I could hear a woman sobbing not knowing what fate must have befallen her daughter. The air in Dapchi was heavy and you could feel the weigh of the sorrow bearing down. For the first time I believed that a shared emotion could be measured in terms of weight. Stalls were locked and the usual Street vendors were nowhere in sight. My friends simply just said "This town has lost its vibe"

I shared the sombre mood. It got worse when Wale received a call that their pool drivers daughter "Larai", a student of the school was nowhere to be found. We prayed that she'd be found and hoped nothing bad had happened to her.

By the evening the military presence in Dapchi had grown heavier with jets flying in at intervals. We were however shocked when watching the evening news we saw the state's police spokes person admitting to the fact that the school was attacked and foodstuff was carted away. With a full smile, his next words were "...we however thank God that no child was lost..."and he was happy there were no injuries or deaths. The school was closed down and students were asked to go home.

The next day, the Military announced that 85 of the missing students had been recovered. This was later countered by the states governor who clearly stated that no student had been rescued.

As increasing number of parents could not account for their children's whereabouts the government and school authorities were forced to state the fact that students were missing. The numbers kept changing from 90 to 105 and finally, 110.

In the days that followed, politicians started trading blames, annoyingly avoiding the cause and effect questions. Some political groups whi don't even know what we re Dapchi is located took advantage of the parents' agonies to score cheap political points. Punches were thrown on social media and I was like where is our humanity?

By the fourth day Larai hadn't been found and it was certain she was one of the abducted girls.

The lucky girls told their tales of escape, parents who lost loved ones vowed never to send their children to school anymore.

I sigh recalling the words of the children I left behind at Nguru... Children who hope for a better tomorrow.

Where were the security personnel deployed to that territory if any deployments were made?

Since the Chibok abduction what actions were taken to forestall further occurrences?

So many questions and none is good enough to bring back Larai or any of the other girls.