[FULL STORY] Outrage greets abduction of Katsina schoolboys

There was outrage across the country on Saturday as reports of the kidnap of an unspecified number of students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State spread, bringing back memories of a similar incident in Chibok, Borno State in 2014.

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, Peoples Democratic Party, leaders of Mdzough U Tiv, Mdzough U Tiv worldwide, Ochtoha’Idoma and Omi’Ngede socio-cultural group in Benue State and Nigerians in general condemned the incident in strong terms, calling for strong intervention from the government, while others said it signified failure of intelligence gathering by Nigeria’s security forces and consequently a slap on the face of the president who is presently in his home state of Katsina for a visit.

Gunmen on motorcycles had late on Friday night reportedly attacked the school shooting into the air as the students ran for safety, scaling over their school fence, with several of them believed to have been abducted by the attackers. Residents close to the school say the student population was about 800.

However, as of the time of filing this report, some residents of the town said only about two hundred students had been recovered leaving about 600 more yet to be accounted for, though some parents who came to the school when the news of the attack broke had reportedly taken away their children.

A parent of one of the students, Musa Murtala, in an interview on Saturday told Sunday Tribune that his son, Hamza Murtala, is one of the kidnapped students. Another man, Yazedu Abdulnasir of Mai Kawo village also said two of his brothers – Zakaria and Jaafar – were among the kidnapped students.

According to Abdulnasir, he received the news of the attack at about 11 p.m on Friday, when one of his brothers called him to report that the school was under attack by bandits.

“Yesterday [Friday] at around 11:00 pm, gunmen carrying dangerous weapons invaded the school.

“Two of my brothers, Zakaria and Jaafar were among those students kidnapped. This morning [Saturday] we were in the school and the school authorities told us that 17 students were believed to have been taken away by the kidnappers.

Presidency reacts

Meanwhile, President Buhari has strongly condemned the bandits’ attack at the school, charging the army and the police to go after the attackers to ensure that no student gets missing or harmed.

According to a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), the military has now located the hideout of the bandits responsible for the abduction and had engaged them in an exchange of fire. The statement added that the president has urged the school authorities to carry out an audit of the population of the students.

It said parents who rushed to the school and removed their children and wards were also required to notify the school and police authorities in order to have a full account of the student population. The statement quoted the president as saying: “I strongly condemn the cowardly bandits’ attack on innocent children at the Science School, Kankara. Our prayers are with the families of the students, the school authorities and the injured. “In the latest briefing received by the President from Governor Aminu Bello Masari, with whom he has been in touch, and the Army Chief of Staff, General Tukur Buratai, the military, supported by air power has located the bandits’ enclave at Zango/Paula forest in Kankara and there have been exchange of fire in an ongoing operation,” the statement said.

When contacted, the police spokesman, SP Isah Gambo, confirmed the attack. He said the police and other security operatives were on top of the situation. He said the police and other security operatives have rescued about 200 of the abducted students.

Addressing a press conference in Katsina on Saturday over the development, SP Gambo said the police were yet to ascertain the exact number of students abducted. But he was quick to add that the police, Army and Nigerian Airforce are right now in the bush trying to rescue other students.

The full text of the press briefing reads: “Gentlemen of the Press, yesterday, 11/12/2020 at about 21:40hrs, Bandits in their numbers, shooting sporadically with AK 47 rifles, attacked Government Science secondary school, Kankara. “The policemen on duty also responded to the attack and engaged them in a gun duel which gave the students opportunity to scale the fence of the school and ran for safety.

“The DPO reinforced the policemen on duty with Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), which forced the hoodlums to retreat into the forest. One Inspector sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital and is responding to treatment.

“In the course of investigation, the DPO rescued over 200 students back into the school compound.

“The police, Nigerian Army, and Nigerian Air Force are working closely with the school authorities to ascertain the actual number of the missing and/or kidnapped students while search parties are assiduously working with a view to find and/or rescue the missing students. It will be too early to say at this particular moment the actual number of students that have been kidnapped or missing.”

Katsina closes all schools

Meanwhile, Governor Aminu Masari has directed that all schools should be closed. He made this known when he visited the school in Kankara on Saturday. The governor told parents that his government will do the needful to free the remaining students believed to still be in custody of the bandits. He said security men were already inside the bush to free the students. According to him, “the abduction, no matter how one will see it, is beyond our imagination. We never envisaged that something like that could happen to us. It is a sad day for the government and people of Katsina. “I want to assure the parents and citizens of Katsina that we cannot tell them that we are deeply touched than them, but I want them to know that we are with them in this hour of grief and sorrow. Every second and minute our thoughts are with them.”

IGP deploys more men

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu on Saturday ordered the deployment of additional operational and investigative assets to support the ongoing search and rescue operations in Kankara and its environs following the attack. This was contained in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Force Public Relations Officer FPRO, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Frank Mba. According to the statement, “the deployment is sequel to the unfortunate attack on Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State by heavily armed men on 11th December, this year which left some of the students missing.

The statement explained that the deployment, which included personnel from the Police Tactical Squads and crack detectives from the Force Intelligence Bureau, would provide investigative support to the Katsina State Police Command.

It futher added that the team “are also to work in sync with the military and other law enforcement agents in coordinated efforts aimed at rescuing the students, hunting down the perpetrators and bringing them to book”.

The statement pointed out that investigations so far had revealed that one of the attackers was killed and a policeman injured during the attack, stating that the exact number of students missing could not be ascertained at the moment as massive operations including investigations, search and rescue exercise were still ongoing.

It added that the IGP had ordered the immediate review and strengthening of security arrangements around educational institutions in the country.

Time for better strategies –Atiku

Former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, while reacting to the kidnap incident said: “it is a very unwelcome escalation of the spate of insecurity in the nation, one which I condemn in the strongest possible terms.” In a statement released on Saturday, he sympathised with the parents of the abducted children and prayed for their safe return. The statement read in part:

“While I urge our nation’s law enforcement agencies to im- mediately swing to action and rescue the missing students, I am nevertheless conscious of the fact that we cannot continue to be reactionary in our response to the growing insecurity in Nigeria. Something has to give.

“I therefore call on the Federal Government to immediately declare a state of emergency in states bedevilled by banditry and terrorism, for an offensive and decisive war on terror and insecurity.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the emergency I call for should follow the steps prescribed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), and case law, by leaving all democratically elected state and local government structures intact. The rationale is quite simple: We cannot win the war on terror by continuing with the same strategies we have deployed over the last five years.

“That they have not worked is very glaring, with the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara incidence being the latest in a long line of proofs. If we must get better results, we must implement better strategies. Strategies that may have to include the temporary stoppage of the boarding school system, in favour of a day students approach, until the situation is brought under control.”

Northern governors

The Northern Governors Forum has also condemned the attack. Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong in a statement said the governors totally condemn the incident which he described as regrettable and intolerable.

While expressing solidarity with their colleague, Governor Aminu Bello Masari, the Government and people of Katsina State, the Northern Governors said they stand with the authorities as they do everything possible to respond to the situation and ensure that no student gets missing or harmed. Governor Lalong said they remain solidly behind security agencies who responded appropriately and have been in pursuit of the bandits to ensure that normalcy is restored and the criminals are apprehended.

He also said the Forum appreciates the directive by President Buhari to the security forces to deploy every available resource needed to deal with the situation.

Lalong said the prayers of the Forum are with the families of the students, the school authorities and the injured, even as he called on the citizens to volunteer useful information to the security agencies and relevant government bodies that will assist in quick resolution of the incident.

SMBLF denounces

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) while reacting to the kidnap described the nation’s security system as ‘totally useless and unfit.’ In a release jointly signed by Mr Yinka Odumakin for SouthWest, Chief Guy Ikokwu (South-East), Senator Bassey Henshaw (South-South) and Dr Isuwa Dogo (Middle-Belt), the Forum said “the saga bore similar imprints with the Chibok incident of 2014 which became a serious political weapon for political power grabbers who lied about change.

“The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum for the sake of collective humanity at least condemns the latest mass kidnap of secondary students in Katsina, the home state of the President as he was landing there for a week holiday.

“The security system that cannot stop all this nonsense is totally useless and totally unfit.”

The Forum expressed worries that in spite of a military formation around the Katsina school the kidnap was not prevented thus raising the strong factor of conspiracy, wondering how long Nigerians would continue to watch fellow compatriots being used as cannon fodders by those it described as “these agents of darkness.”

SMBLF said it felt for the affected students who due to no fault of theirs were being used for what it described as “all these mad schemes” which it said “are not difficult to steer through as we know that this on the long run too will be exposed for what it is: pure and applied sham.”

Step down now

Leader of Mdzough U Tiv, Mdzough U Tiv worldwide, Ochtoha’Idoma and Omi’Ngede socio-cultural groups in Benue State, retired Comptroller of Prison, Iorbee Ihagh, has advised President Buhari to step down as he is no longer in charge of the country while reacting to the abduction of the secondary school students in Katsina State.

Ihagh described the abduction in the president’s home state at a time he arrived the state on a week private visit as a ‘disgrace’ to the country’s leadership.

Ihagh expressed deep concern on the security situation in the country, saying that Buhari’s administration has been overwhelmed with the problem of insecurity while calling on him to step aside.

According to Ihagh, “it is very unfortunate that hundreds of school children could be kidnapped in the president’s home state and particularly, at the time he is on private visit to his state.

“It is a disgrace to the president and the nation as a whole, if the bandits could dare the president in his own state when he is in the state and abducted hundreds of school children, then, Nigerians are in trouble.

“The best thing for the president is to step aside because it is so clear that he is not in control of the nation. “Nigeria is faced with both internal and external security and people have been asking the president to change his service chiefs but turned deaf ears to it.

“He (Buhari) should honorably step aside since he has lost control of the country,” Ihagh concluded.

PDP reacts

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned what it says is the gruesome attack on the Kankara school by suspected terrorists. The party has also called on President Buhari, who is now on a week-long visit to the state, to abandon his holiday and lead the search for the kidnapped students. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Saturday, Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP also said that the party is standing with the entire Katsina people while charging the president “as the Commander-in-Chief, who promised to lead from the front, to account for the abducted students, as the large-scale abduction happened a few hours after the President and his security machinery took over the state.”

The party said that it is perplexing “that at a time the people of Katsina should have heaved a sigh of relief because of his presence, the abduction happened right under Mr President’s nose; in his home state, where he had gone holidaying.”

The PDP added: “This development has further exposed the failure of President Buhari to manage high-level security intelligence that ought to accompany a presidential visit.”

The party further noted as distressing President Buhari’s refusal to honour an invitation by the House of Representatives for a collective deliberation on security, could abandon his duty post for a holiday, leaving our national flanks open for terrorists, bandits, vandals, and insurgents.

It added that: “The time of the attack buttresses the fact that President Buhari, as the Commander-in-Chief, is totally incapable of securing our nation; the very reason there have been widespread calls by patriotic Nigerians that he should resign.

“This insolence of Mr President towards issues of national security compelled our caucus in the House of Representatives to demand his impeachment.”

It also stated: “Moreover, this particular abduction in the President’s home state, under his watch, raises further serious questions over this government’s capacity to fight insurgency.

“This is more worrisome as the state government had been known to have established contacts with, as well as pampering bandits, which Mr President had not condemned.”

The PDP demanded that “President Buhari should immediately quit his needless holidaying in Daura and go in search of, and rescue the abducted students, particularly having earlier admitted that issue of security is his exclusive responsibility.”

It is failure of govt —MBF

The National President, Middle Belt Forum MBF, Dr Bitrus Pogu has described the abduction incident as a failure of government and security architecture of the country.

Speaking with Dr Pogu who said the government and the military are yet to learn from the abduction of Chibok girls and others incidents stated that it was surprising that the terrorists could use the same approach over and over again to raid and kidnap students of secondary schools.

“This is a complete failure of government and security architecture; it also means that governance is on the verge of total collapse in this country. In fact, it happened on the very day Mr President arrived in the state. It has become a re- curring decimal, no one is safe in this country again.

“In a civilised country, the president would have resigned long ago because this completely shows that he can no longer arrest the insecurity ravaging the country. The government should do the needful before the country is overrun by bandits, terrorists and other elements across the country.”

Also a member of House of Representatives Hon. Simon Mwadkom said the abduction depicted security breakdown in the North and lackadaisical posture of President Buhari administration to tame the insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country.

“When the House of Representatives invited the president, some APC governors along with the Attorney General of the Federation misadvised the President not to attend. Now kidnapping has been taking to the doorstep of Mr President, it is high time he admits failure and sack the Service Chiefs.

Nigerians express anger

Nigerians have not held back in expressing anger and dismay at the latest kidnapping attack. Popular comedian, Debo Adebayo, expressed on Twitter, “Gunmen attacked and abducted children at the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina right under the nose of the President. Talk about the height of incompetence and insecurity.”

Another social media user, Dr Olufunmilayo stated that he was looking forward to who the government would blame for the latest incident. “When Boko Haram slaughter 110 farmers, the government said the dead farmers didn’t get ‘military clearance’ to go to farm. Government blamed dead farmers for actions of evil terrorists. 600 school children are missing since bandits attacked a Katsina school on Friday. Who will the government blame?”

A human rights lawyer and activist, Tope Akinyode suggested that the president should have visited the school and acting otherwise portrays him as a coward. “As the Grand Commander in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Buhari should have visited Kankara, Katsina State where the kidnap happened to address the people since he’s also in Katsina State. But no, our president is a coward who can’t move freely in his own state of origin,” Akinyode expressed on Twitter.

A slap on the face —Ikimi

Saturday’s abduction of about 600 pupils at the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, has been described as a disgraceful slap on the president himself. In his reaction, Executive Director of the Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged (CENTREP), Oghenejabor Ikimi, Esq., said the kidnap was a slap on the face of the president.

“This is a slap on the face of a toothless, clueless and tactless president who is presently visiting his own state for a week.

“It’s a sad commentary. 600 students kidnapped and what is the Katsina State government doing about it? They shut down schools, all the boarding schools in the state closed down.

“This is what they continue to do; it has always been the trend. Things usually happen before they take action. “Before this issue came up, an indigene of Kankara told the press that they got the information that these gun- men were coming to attack the town.

“They informed the security that they were coming to the town by 6:00p.m, but the gunmen came around 9:00 p.m. “If there was a super security around the community, this thing would not have happened. Before the police came, it was around 12:00 midnight,” the human rights activist lamented.

Ikimi reiterated the urgent need for the restructuring of the country as the only veritable antidote to the lingering insecurity across the contraption called Nigeria.

“The insecurity boils down to the fact that we have to decentralise our internal security, bringing soldiers in the first place is an aberration.

“We have to decentralise the police force. I have suggested it several times that decentralising it is restructuring.

“We have to restructure our security apparatus; internal security apparatus along regional lines. When I say regional line, I mean along the six geo-political regions because each of these geopolitical regions has their peculiar security challenges. What stops us from having six IGs in each of these zones?

“Why do we continue to over-centralize our internal security? It’s wrong!! It is not working. Let us decentralize the police force; that is the answer.

“Nigeria is sick, and the only way to heal this country is to restructure it. Restructuring is the answer,” he re-emphasised. 

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