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Abducted Jangebe Schoolgirls Reportedly Regain Freedom, Govt Yet To Confirm Report

The kidnapped schoolgirls of the Government Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara State have reportedly regained their freedom.


A photo of the school billboard
A photo of the school billboard

 

The kidnapped schoolgirls of the Government Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara State, have reportedly regained their freedom.

While Channels Television gathered on Sunday that the students have regained their freedom, the state government and other officials are, however, yet to confirm this or provide any details.

As of Friday evening, seven out of the 317 abducted female students were said to have escaped.

A source who spoke with Channels Television from Jangebe town via a phone call confirmed that the seven girls returned home on their own as they claimed they manoeuvred their way back from the bandits while trekking along the forest.

The girls were abducted from their boarding school in the early hours of Friday.

In reaction to the development, the Zamfara Police Commissioner, CP Abutu Yar, had said a joint search and rescue operation was already underway with a view to rescuing all 317 students.

CP Yaro said the Force Commander Operations Hadarin Daji, Major General Aminu Bande, Brigade Commander 1 Brigade, Nigeria Army Gusau, and other state government officials led a heavily armed Re-enforcement team to Jangebe to complement the rescue operation in the locations where the students were believed to have been whisked to.

Meanwhile shortly after, the state Governor, Bello Matawalle, ordered the immediate closure of all boarding schools in the state.

“As we are making efforts to strengthen security around our schools, I have directed the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools across the State,” Matawalle said in a broadcast, Friday evening.

One Abduction Too Many?

The reported release of the students comes a day after abducted students and staff of the Government Science College Kagara in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, regained their freedom.

Armed men who were said to have worn military uniforms, had attacked the school at about 2:00 am On February 17, shooting sporadically before whisking away their captives to an unknown destination.

One student was killed in the process.

After the abductees regained their freedom on Saturday, Governor Abubakar Bello did not comment on whether a ransom was paid for the victims’ release but he said it was a joint effort by security agencies, traditional rulers and other “major stakeholders.”

Prior to the Kagara abduction, over 300 students of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State were also abducted in December 2020.

They were, however, all rescued shortly after.

A ‘Strong Warning’

President Muhammadu Buhari reacting to the spate of abductions described it as inhumane and totally unacceptable.

In a statement released by spokesman Garba Shehu on Friday, the President said: “this administration will not succumb to blackmail by bandits who target innocent school students in the expectations of huge ransom payments.”

According to Buhari, “no criminal group can be too strong to be defeated by the government,” and he added that “the only thing standing between our security forces and the bandits are the rules of engagement.”

“We have the capacity to deploy massive force against the bandits in the villages where they operate, but our limitation is the fear of heavy casualties of innocent villagers and hostages who might be used as human shields by the bandits,” he said, stressing that “our primary objective is to get the hostages safe, alive and unharmed.”

The Federal Government had also said that no ransom will be paid for the release of abducted students.

Read Also: Gov Bello Meets Freed Kagara Abductees In Minna

The Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, said this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Saturday while explaining some of the government’s strategies to curb the rate of abductions in the country.

While he ruled out the option of paying ransoms, the minister assured Nigerians that the “government has put in place various strategies to contain banditry, insurgency and kidnapping.”

“Some of these measures are kinetic, some are non-kinetic,” Mr Lai Mohammed said, without disclosing any specific actions.

According to him, the same was the case for the abducted Kankara schoolboys in Katsina State and the Dapchi schoolgirls in Yobe State, where contrary to reports, he claimed that no ransom was paid to secure their release.

“All these stories about ransom, are conspiracy theories,” the minister said.

He continued by saying: “I can assure you that the government is on top of the matter – but it is not a subject matter for television discussion.

“We didn’t get there overnight, that is why we can’t get out in one day”.