•Tinubu, bandits and school signpost
The lawmaker representing Kebbi South, Senator Garba Maidoki, is optimistic of an early return for schoolgirls abducted in the state.
Maidoki spoke last night on Channels Television, days after gunmen abducted about 25 students from the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi 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 the current affairs show.
“There is high hope that the girls will return home in one or two days.”
The incident happened on Monday, leading to the death of the vice principal, who attempted to stop the gunmen from abducting the students.
Since the attack, the federal government has ordered security agencies to rescue the girls.
Yesterday, Vice President Kashim Shettima, visited the community as directed by President Bola Tinubu.
Shettima re-echoed Tinubu’s priority of the girls’ safe return and lauded security agencies for their efforts so far.
The VP had landed at the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport alongside the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, and other members of his entourage earlier in the day.
He described the incident as unfortunate said the Federal Government will do everything possible to ensure the safe return of the students.
Shettima said the Nigerian authorities will deploy all machineries of government to make that happen.
The incident has continued to draw attention globally with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) among the list of high-profile organisations calling for the safe return of the students.
Already, President Tinubu has postponed his foreign trips to South Africa and Angola in the wake of the attack.
The Kebbi mass abduction adds to the growing number of kidnappings in schools across the country.
In 2014, gunmen took away scores of students in the Chibok community of Borno State, one of the firsts in the series of kidnapping in learning institutions in Nigeria.
