Hours after the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Talata-Mafara local government area of Zamfara state, the government has finally reacted.
The state commissioner of security and home affairs, Abubakar Dauran, confirmed the incident in a brief interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau on Friday, February 26.
The commissioner said the abductors in their hundreds invaded the town and took away the students at about 2 am on Friday, February 26.
"The Zamfara state government said that it would not leave any stone unturned in order to secure the quick release of the abducted girls". Credit: @Bellomatawalle1.
“I can confirm to you now that we have sadly received the report on the abduction of the students of GGSS Jangebe and right now, I am on my way to the school.
“At this moment, l cannot say how many students were taken away by the gunmen until I get there, but we have already mobilized security men and members of the vigilante who are now in pursuit of the abductors.”
According to the report, a staff of the school who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity said the gunmen were shooting sporadically in the air to scare the residents before coming into the school.
The staff reportedly said:
“The gunmen in their hundreds invaded the town around 2 am on Friday, shot sporadically in the air to scare the residents before coming into the school."
A resident of the area who gave his name as Haliru Jangebe was quoted to have said that the local vigilantes had tried to repel the invaders but were overpowered.
It was reported that the incident happened in the early hours of Friday, February 26.
According to the report, a resident of Kawaye village identified as Sadi Kawaye said that his daughters, Mansura and Sakina were among those abducted.
Meanwhile. Zamfara state police command has confirmed that a total of 317 schoolgirls were taken away by armed bandits in Government Girls Science Secondary School Jangebe in Jangebe, Zamfara state, Channels TV reports.
Speaking to journalists in the state, the Zamfara state commissioner of police, CP Abutu Yaro said a joint search and rescue operation is already underway with a view to rescuing the students kidnapped by the criminals.
President Buhari is yet to make any comment on the situation so far. Photo credit: @MBuhari
CP. Yaro said top security chiefs and other state government officials led a heavily armed re-enforcement team to Jangebe to complement the ongoing rescue operation in the locations where the students were believed to have been whisked to.
The commissioner while interfacing with the Principal of the school and the parents appealed to everyone to be calm, assuring them that the joint efforts of the police and other security agencies will surely lead to a successful rescue of the students
In a related news the special adviser on media to the Kano state governor, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, has declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government has failed Nigerians in terms of securing the lives and properties of the citizens.
He wrote:Yakassai, an APC chieftain, but an avid critic of the Buhari administration, took the government to the cleaners after new reports of students kidnapped by bandits in Zamfara state.
“Clearly, we as APC government, at all levels, have failed Nigerians in the number one duty we were elected to do which is to secure lives and properties and not a single day goes by without some sort of insecurity in this land. This is a shame! Deal with terrorists decisively or resign.
“Each time another tragedy happens, we lament, condemn, create a hashtag, the government pretends to do something, no concrete steps to prevent reoccurrence, and then we repeat the process. To what end? Where are those saddled with the responsibility?
“Just last week it was #freekagaraboys, today we have a new hashtag #RescueJangebeGirls, who knows tomorrow what hashtag we will come up with? Perhaps one for ourselves when we get caught up in one of these daring attacks. This is sad and heartbreaking, I feel helpless and hopeless.’’
Chairman of NGF and governor of Ekiti state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, made the statement during some governors' solidarity visit to Niger governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, in Minna over the recent abductions in the state by the armed criminals.Meanwhile, the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, on Tuesday, February 23 declared that the ultimate agenda of armed bandits kidnapping people in northern Nigeria is to destroy the country.
Governor Fayemi stated that what is happening in the northern part of the country is terrorism, adding that there was no other term to describe the constant acts of banditry and kidnapping recorded in the north.
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