There is confusion in Katsina State regarding the actual number of students abducted from the Government Science Secondary School (GSSS), Kankara, Katsina by gunmen on Friday, December 11.
It was gathered that gunmen, suspected to be terrorists had, on Friday night, attacked the school, shot a policeman in the leg, and took away the students to an unknown destination.
Speaking yesterday, the state governor, Mr. Bello Masari told a delegation of service chiefs who visited him at the government house that, based on government records, the whereabouts of 333 boys remained unknown.
till or.ing aHe said the children kidnapped cut across the state, because the school is a boarding school that houses children from all parts of the state and from outside the state.
“The children so far kidnapped cut across the state, because the boarding school houses all children from all parts of the state and even some from outside the state.
“It has a population of 839 and so far, we have yet to account for 333 students.
“And we are still counting because more are coming out from the forest and we are calling through the numbers of those parents who have phone numbers to find out whether or not their children have gone back home because we have discovered that there are so many local governments that the children have gone back. But based on the available record, we are still searching for 333 students either in the forest or through their parents to ascertain the actual number that have been kidnapped.”
“We as a government, we are yet to be contacted by any group or person. We prefer not to discuss this because we can be emotional,” he said.
Presidential spokesman, Mr. Garba Shehu who spoke on a BBC interview said however gave a figure contrary to the state’s government claims.
According to him many children had fled and that only 10 children were in the custody of the gunmen.
He explained that the children who escaped from their abductors said only 10 children were in captivity and the number of students identified by the school teachers.
“Some of the children who fled the bush said that 10 children were being held hostage by the gunmen,” Shehu said.
However, a report by Daily Trust said 668 students were still unaccounted for as the school’s register showed.
According to the report, the school had 1,074 student population in both its Junior and senior secondary sections as of the time of the abduction as opposed to 839 that the governor talked about.
The report further stated that in the junior section, there are six classes, comprising JSS 1A, which has 58 students, 1B, which has 62 students and 1C, which has 64 students; JSS 2A has 74 students, 2B has 79 students and 2C has 75 students.
There are seven classes in the senior section, which include SS1A, 97; 1B, 108; 1C, 106 and 1D, 118 while in SS2, there are 2A, 74; 2B, 79 and 2C, 80, giving a total of 1074 students.
It was also revealed that both the SS3 and JSS 3 students had completed their examination, hence they were not in school during the attack.
Furthermore, the report said 270 students were rescued from the school on the night of the attack and with the number of those who returned from the bush the following night or those who were reported to have gone home, the number of those found rose to 406 as of Sunday morning.
Reacting to the kidnap, the country director of Plan International Nigeria, Dr. Hussaini Abdu said the federal government was yet to learn lessons from the abduction of 276 girls from the Chibok Secondary School in Borno State in 2014 and another set of 110 girls at the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018.
“Following the two previous incidents and other occurrences of kidnap of students in boarding schools across the country, the Nigerian government by now should have put in place adequate security arrangements to ensure the safety of children learning and kept in the care of schools and education authorities, especially in such locations susceptible to attacks by non-state armed groups,” he said.
Also reacting, the Middle Belt Forum asked President Muhammadu Buhari to resign from his position having failed to tackle the security challenges facing the country.
The national president of the Forum, Dr Bitrus Porgu, lamented the incident and wondered why Buhari, who promised to bring insurgency to an end within three months of assuming office, would continue to remain in power for more than six years without solving the problem.
“As far as we are concerned, in a civilised society, he would have resigned as an honourable person because he has not been able to fulfills his promise to Nigerians.
“Unfortunately, in our clime, that has not happened, because people are not people of honour. The abduction in Katsina is just one too many. Those who abducted the young students will go and initiate them forcefully into terrorism and this is an unfortunate development.
“As the students were abducted, just yesterday (Saturday), a village south of Chibok in Borno State was attacked by terrorists, and from the information I gathered, two soldiers were killed along with one civilian, while the soldiers were able to bring down two of the insurgents,” he said.
For his part, the publicity secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said in an interview with Punch that the nation had become virtually ungoverned under the President.
“The position of the President has become untenable and it is a wasteful venture calling for his resignation. The country under him is virtually ungoverned and practically ungovernable,” he stated.
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) while sympathising with the families of the abducted children, said the administration of President Buhari has failed the nation.
Spokesman for PANDEF, Mr. Ken Robinson described the abduction as condemnable and unacceptable, especially as it happened in the president’s home state.
“The fact remains that this administration of Muhammadu Buhari has failed Nigerians and has failed to secure and protect the lives and property of Nigerians across the country,” Robinson said.
However, he described as “misplaced” calls for the resignation of Buhari over the prevailing insecurity in the country.
He contended that there are constitutional provisions to fall back on if the president was failing in his responsibilities.
For its part, Ohanaeze Ndigbo said calling for the resignation of the President because of the pervading insecurity in the country would not solve the problem.
Ohanaeze’s deputy national publicity secretary, Mr. Chuks Ibegbu, asked rather rhetorically: “If he resigns, who solves the problem?
He added: “You can consider that in a sane clime, but we have not yet built sanity in our polity. Those that may be genuinely asking him to resign will become attack dogs if you tell them. Our real solution is restructuring our polity.”
The United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) also condemned the attack, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all the children.
UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa Marie-Pierre Poirier in a statement issued said “UNICEF is deeply concerned about these acts of violence. Attacks on schools are a violation of children’s rights. This is a grim reminder that abductions of children and widespread grave violations of children’s rights continue to take place in northern Nigeria”
Meanwhile, the federal government has pledged to rescue the schoolboys as soon as possible.
The minister of defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd) made the pledge when he led a delegation of heads of security and intelligence agencies on a visit to Masari.
The minister, who declared bandits as terrorists, explained that he held an all-inclusive emergency meeting with heads of security and intelligence agencies where they strategised on measures to bring armed banditry to a decisive end.
He noted that security operatives had carried out an aerial surveillance of the Rugu Forest and planned a rescue operation with minimal civilian casualty.
Meanwhile, scores of protesters yesterday marched on the streets of Kankara, seeking an earnest rescuing of the school children.
The protesters were led by a woman, who described herself as a mother to one of the pupils.
The protesters bore placards conveying various messages, among which are ‘Government must speak out,’ ‘We want our children back’ and ‘We want security in Kankara.’
They chanted songs seeking the rescue of the abducted students.
Some of the parents also said they had heard little or nothing about the fate of their children.
Reuters reports that Mr. Abubakar Lawal came from Zaria, a city 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Kankara, after learning that two of his three sons at the school were among the missing.
“From yesterday I was here, praying that the Almighty Allah should rescue our people,” he said.
Also reacting, the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) said the spate of killings, kidnapping and other nefarious activities bedevilling Katsina State had turned it into a house of horror with an alarming rate of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The coalition added that the security challenges orchestrated by bandits, kidnappers and cattle rustlers have constituted a threat to the economic growth and sustainable development of the state.
The north-west zonal chairman of the Coalition, Mr. Jamilu Aliyu, while addressing journalists on the abduction of the school children, said the incident had exposed the weakness of the state government.
Aliyu, who described the attack on the boarding school as inhuman, barbaric and regrettable, stated that the bandits now roam local markets in the state with AK-47 rifles slung on their shoulders.
He urged the state government and security agencies to rescue the students within the shortest period of time or face massive protest by members of the coalition.
“Failure of the government to rescue the missing students within the shortest period of time, CNG will not hesitate to mobilise hundreds of thousands on the streets of Katsina State for a continuous protest, until the students are fully rescued, even if it is going to cost us our lives.
“While we commend the efforts of Katsina State Government for its immediate response, we equally condemn in the strongest term, the inability of the president to visit the scene, despite being in the state,” he added.
