Bandits have once again abducted 371 schoolgirls of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara state.
The abduction of the girls took place early Friday morning, and report revealed that the abductees were taken into the bush on foot.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, warned that “this administration will not succumb to blackmail by bandits who target innocent school students in the expectations of huge ransom payments.”
He also appealed to state governments to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles because that policy might boomerang disastrously.
According to him, “No criminal group can be too strong to be defeated by the government adding that the only thing standing between the security forces and the bandits are the rules of engagement.”
“We have the capacity to deploy massive force against the bandits in the villages where they operate, but our limitation is the fear of heavy casualties of innocent villagers and hostages who might be used as human shields by the bandits,” he said, stressing that “our primary objective is to get the hostages safe, alive and unharmed.”
Buhari further stated 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.
“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,” he added.
Shortly after the abduction, Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle has ordered the closure of all boarding schools so as to douse the fear being entertained by parents.
Meanwhile, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Ogun State chapter, has called on the Federal government to immediately arrest and prosecute an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, for allegedly promoting banditry in the country.
The students’ body said it was not pleased with the manner in which the Federal Government is treating Gumi like a Messiah.
NANS opined that Gumi should be treated like a “criminal” for supporting armed bandits who have been kidnapping and terrorising the country.
Gumi, a renowned Islamic cleric had accused the Nigerian military of triggering the raging banditry in parts of the North.
The Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, who claimed to have been meeting with bandits in forests across Northern states, alleged that non-Muslim soldiers had carried out orchestrated killings in some communities, precipitating anger.
In a statement made available to journalists by the Chairman of NANS in Ogun, Damilola Simeon, it was alleged that Gumi was justifying the criminal activities of armed bandits in the north.
“Gumi should be treated as a criminal and not as a Messiah. His acts have further exposed the military and the entire country to further attacks by marauding bandits,” the statement read in part.
Recall that the Zamfara State Police Command has disclosed that about three-hundred and seventeen (317) students were abducted from the Government Girls Science Secondary School Jangebe, Zamfara.
The Zamfara Police Commissioner, CP Abutu Yaro, speaking to newsmen, said a joint search and rescue operation had been dispatched to rescue the 317 students kidnapped.
