Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello, has assured that the state government is meeting with local authorities to ensure the safe release of the abducted students and members of the staff of Government Science College, Kagara.
He also described as ‘rumour’, the purported release of the abductees.
Bello spoke on Friday at the Government House in Minna, the state capital, shortly after meeting renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi.
“As at this moment, we do not have any additional information to give apart from the one given earlier on, yesterday. But I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can, we are interfacing with the local communities, with federal authorities and our own state authorities to ensure that we recover the victims safely.
“Our utmost priority right now is to make sure we bring them back home safe and that is exactly what we are going to do. So, there hasn’t been any information I can give you at this moment but once we have anything for you, we will let you know,” the governor said.
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Responding to a question on the purported release of the abductees, the governor said, “Everything that is being said out there is rumour and in situations like this, we cannot work with rumour, it has to be confirmed. Yes, we’ve been receiving different rumours from different people within villages but we are still treating those as rumour until processed and confirmed.”
Speaking on the dilapidated condition of the school and other schools in the state, Governor Bello blamed the past administration for abandoning schools infrastructures.
The governor urged the parents and families of the abducted persons not to despair, adding that the government hopes to secure their release in hours or days.
He added that adequate security personnel have also been deployed to Kagara town and environs to boost security in the area, which according to him has also boosted the morale of the people.
He, however, expressed concern over the lack of manpower and efficiency by security agencies in the state.
According to him, this has made the state government collaborate with local vigilantes.
