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Presidency Reacts To Zamfara Schoolgirls’ Abduction 18 Hours Later

February 26, 2021

The reaction of the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, is coming 18 hours after the incident happened and different sections of Nigerians have spoken.

The Presidency has condemned the latest abduction of the hundreds of students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara State, blaming the state government for its policy of rewarding bandits with “money and vehicles.”  

The reaction of the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, is coming 18 hours after the incident happened and different sections of Nigerians have spoken.

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Shehu said, “The President advised states and local governments to be more proactive by improving security around schools and their surroundings.

“The President appealed to state governments "to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously."

“President Muhammadu Buhari has described the latest abduction of hundreds of students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara State as inhumane and totally unacceptable, sending out a strong warning to bandits and their sponsors.

“President Buhari noted that “a hostage crisis is a complex situation that requires maximum patience in order to protect the victims from physical harm or even brutal death at the hands of their captors.

“He warned the bandits, saying, “Let them not entertain any illusions that they are more powerful than the government. They shouldn't mistake our restraint for the humanitarian goals of protecting innocent lives as a weakness or a sign of fear or irresolution.”

Gunmen kidnapped over 300 school girls around 1am at the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in the Talata Mafara Local Government area of Zamfara State earlier on Friday.

The gunmen, believed to be bandits, struck the school and loaded the girls in buses.

 A resident in Kawaye village identified as Seidu Muhammadu who confirmed the development to SaharaReporters said his daughters, Mansura and Sakina, were among those abducted.

 "I'm on my way to Jangebe now to see the situation myself. I was told they invaded the school around 1am," he said.

 The spokesman for the state police command command SP Muhammad Shehu told reporters that" Give me some time, I can't say anything now."

 The Zamfara incident comes a week after gunmen struck the Government Secondary School in Kagara, Niger State, abducting 47 school pupils, teachers and workers, who have yet to be rescued as of Friday.