President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to immediately relocate to Kebbi State following the abduction of 25 students from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga.
A statement issued Thursday by Presidential Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Matawalle is to remain in Kebbi to coordinate and monitor all security operations aimed at securing the girls’ release.
Gunmen invaded the school around 4 a.m. on Monday, abducting 25 students and killing a vice-principal. However on of the girls managed to escape, leaving 24 in captivity. The attack has intensified concerns over renewed bandit activities in the North-west.
Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, is expected in Birnin-Kebbi on Friday. During his tenure as governor (2019–2023), he handled several mass-kidnapping incidents, including the February 2021 abduction of 279 schoolgirls from Jangebe, who were later released.
The presidency also confirmed that Tinubu has postponed his planned trips to Johannesburg for the G20 Summit and to Luanda for the AU-EU meeting. The President is staying back in Abuja to receive further security briefings on the Kebbi schoolgirls’ abduction and the bandit attack that killed worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
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