Twenty-four girls who were abducted from a government boarding school in Maga, Kebbi State, last week have been released, the presidency announced.
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday welcomed the girls’ release and called on security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue other students still held captive.
The girls had been abducted at dawn on 17 November after armed assailants struck the government girls’ boarding school in Maga — just moments after a military detachment reportedly left the premises.
In a statement issued via his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the presidency announced the release and stressed the government’s commitment to securing freedom for all victims taken by terrorists.
The statement quoted President Tinubu as saying: “I am relieved that all the 24 girls have been accounted for. Now, we must put as a matter of urgency more boots on the ground in the vulnerable areas to avert further incidents of kidnapping. My government will offer all the assistance needed to achieve this.”
The Kebbi kidnapping triggered what appears to be a wave of copycat attacks: abductions in Eruku, Kwara State, and Papiri, Niger State, followed shortly after.
All 38 victims in Eruku have been freed, and in Niger State, some students abducted from the Catholic school reportedly escaped and reunited with their parents.
The Governor of Kebbi State confirmed that no ransom was paid by either state or federal authorities for the release of the schoolgirls.
President Tinubu further directed the deployment of aerial surveillance across forests and other vulnerable zones in Kebbi, Kwara and Niger States.
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