President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi over the abduction of 24 schoolgirls in the state.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu asked Matawalle to remain in Kebbi state to monitor security efforts to secure the release of the abducted students.
Gunmen abducted the students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town, Kebbi State, around 4:00am on Monday.
However, one of the students escaped shortly after the abduction, leaving 24 girls in still captivity.
President Tinubu had postponed his scheduled trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, as he awaited further security briefings on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
Matawalle is expected to arrive in Birnin-Kebbi on Friday, the statement read.
It further noted that Matawalle, who was formerly governor of Zamfara State, gained some experience in dealing with banditry and mass kidnapping during his tenure as governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.
On 26 February 2021, armed bandits abducted 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 at the Government Girls Science Secondary School, a boarding school in Jangebe, in Zamfara State. The bandits released all the hostages on 2 March 2021.
Meanwhile, Senator Garba Maidoki of Kebbi South is optimistic of an early return for schoolgirls abducted in the State.
“We have a fair idea where the girls are, and we are sure they have not moved outside the Kebbi South Senatorial District,” Maidoki said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday. “There is high hope that the girls will return home in one or two days.”
Already, Vice President Kashim Shettima has visited the community where he re-echoed the Federal Government’s resolve to rescue the girls.