Without mincing words, Kebbi State Governor, Mohammed Nasir Idris, has expressed outrage and frustration over the attack on Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area.
The attack which resulted in the death of the vice principal and the kidnapping of 25 female students. Three of the students managed to escape.
The governor frontally accused security agencies of sabotaging efforts to protect the students, citing credible intelligence from the Department of State Services (DSS) that the school was under threat of attack. The DSS had advised the state government to convene an emergency Security Council meeting, which was held, and a decision was made to provide round-the-clock protection for the students.
Governor Idris said, “This is clear sabotage. We got credible intelligence from the DSS that this school was likely to be attacked. DSS further advised that we convene an emergency Security Council meeting, which we did. And the decision was that we would provide round-the-clock protection for the students.”
The governor took the DSS report seriously, bearing in mind that the failure to act on similar intelligence led to the December 2020 kidnapping of over 300 pupils of a school in Kankara, Katsina State. He lamented that deployments were made to secure the school, but the heavily-armed security men spent time taking photographs with the students, only to abandon them 30 minutes before the attack.
A teacher who escaped the attack expressed shock at the turn of events, saying, “The heavily-armed security men spent the entire night guarding the school. Sadly, for yet-to-be determined reasons, they reportedly left the school before dawn. About 30 minutes after they withdrew, the kidnappers struck, abducting the students.”
Governor Idris, who was accompanied by security chiefs in the state, announced the establishment of a special investigation panel, headed by the State DSS director, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack and ensure the safe return of the kidnapped students.
The governor believes the girls were kidnapped, not killed, and is hopeful that they will be rescued soon. “I believe it was the accuracy and credibility of the intelligence supplied by the DSS on the school that made Governor Idris appoint their director to head the special committee he set up,” the teacher said.
