President Bola Tinubu has directed security forces to rescue the abducted female students in Zamfara.
Last week, bandits raided the Sabon-Gida hamlet in the Bungudu Local Government Area, kidnapping over 24 students from the Federal University of Gusau in Zamfara State.
While six of them were later liberated, President Tinubu has directed security operatives to free others who remain imprisoned.
“President Bola Tinubu has directed security agencies to rescue the remaining female students of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, who were recently abducted by terrorists,” presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said in a Sunday statement.
“Condemning the reprehensible act of abduction, the President says there is no moral justification for such heinous crimes against innocent victims whose only ‘offense’ was their pursuit of quality education.”
The presidential spokesman quoted Tinubu as condoling with the families of those affected, reiterated his government’s resolve to “protect every Nigerian citizen, and in line with this commitment, assures the families of the abducted students that no effort will be spared in ensuring their safe return”.
Tinubu has also vowed to “ensure that educational institutions remain sanctuaries of knowledge, growth, and opportunity, and totally free from the menacing acts of terrorists,” the statement added.
Following the incident, the Zamfara state government had tagged the kidnapping “cowardly.”
In addition to expressing sympathy to the relatives of the victims, Governor Dauda Lawal gave the order for security forces to pursue the attackers in an effort to free the abductees.
“I’m deeply saddened by the recent cowardly attacks by armed bandits at Sabon Gida village where some residents and School girls were kidnapped,” the governor wrote on his X account Sunday.
“We immediately mobilized security agents who succeeded in rescuing some of the victims and are still in hot pursuit of the criminals through land and air.”
“I’ve been in constant engagement with our security heads in the State and other stakeholders to ensure the safe return of all other victims and quickly neutralize the situation In Shaa Allah.”
The attack from last week is the most recent in a rising pattern of kidnappings of students, especially in the North-West of Nigeria. In recent years, robbers who prey on schools have abducted a large number of students. However, many of them were eventually saved.
