President Bola Tinubu addressing security chiefs in Abuja during a meeting on police redeployment and community safety.
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State and oversee the security response following the abduction of 24 schoolgirls in the state.
The directive, announced in a statement by Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, requires the minister to remain in Kebbi until security agencies achieve progress in the rescue effort.
Overnight Abduction
Armed men stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Sakaba Local Government Area, at about 4:00am on Monday.
The assailants took 24 students away, although one girl reportedly escaped shortly after the incident.
The attack is the latest in a series of school abductions that have continued to raise questions about the protection of children in vulnerable communities across northern Nigeria.
Presidential Response
The President postponed scheduled trips to South Africa and Angola to receive continuous security briefings on the kidnapping and a separate attack on worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church in Kwara State.
Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, is expected in Birnin-Kebbi, with the presidency citing his previous experience dealing with large-scale banditry during his tenure.
Nigeria has witnessed repeated incidents of mass kidnapping from schools in Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, and now Kebbi. In 2021, 279 girls were seized from a boarding school in Jangebe, Zamfara, before being released days later.
Local Officials Hopeful
Speaking on a National Television, Senator Garba Maidoki of Kebbi South said security agencies believe the girls are still within the region.
“We have a fair idea where the girls are, and we are sure they have not moved outside the Kebbi South Senatorial District,” he said. “There is high hope that the girls will return home in one or two days.”
Vice President Kashim Shettima has since visited the affected community, reaffirming the government’s commitment to securing the safe return of the missing girls.
The attack has once again placed national attention on the worsening insecurity across the North-West and the pressure mounting on authorities to protect schools, children, and rural populations from organised armed groups.
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