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By Lizzy Chirkpi
All 24 students abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Maga, in the Danko-Wasagu area of Kebbi State, have regained their freedom.
The confirmation came on Tuesday from Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy. Announcing the rescue, Onanuga said the President hailed the security agencies for their swift action and urged them to intensify operations to free other victims still held by armed groups.
“I am relieved that all the 24 girls have been accounted for. Now, we must urgently deploy more boots on the ground in vulnerable areas to prevent further kidnappings. My government will provide all necessary support to achieve this,” the President stated.
The girls were taken last Monday when bandits invaded the school hostel a development that prompted Tinubu to direct the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to immediately relocate to Kebbi and coordinate rescue operations. Although the President commended the multiple successful rescue missions in recent days, he stressed that “the job was not yet done.”
The abduction occurred amid a surge in attacks on educational and religious institutions. In separate incidents days after the Kebbi kidnapping, gunmen raided a Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, abducting 38 worshippers during a vigil, while another group attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, seizing more than 300 pupils and teachers, according to police and the Catholic Diocese of Kontagora.
The wave of assaults has triggered nationwide outrage and renewed demands for stronger security in rural schools, particularly in the North-West, where banditry continues to threaten communities.