Troops have identified location of abducted Kebbi schoolgirls, Defence Minister Matawalle claims

•Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle

 

Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has said security forces are closing in on the bandits who kidnapped students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State.

 

Twenty-five students were taken during the attack on the school in Danko Wasagu Local Government Area on Monday, though authorities confirmed that one of the girls managed to escape and find her way home, according to Premium Times report.

 

Speaking in Birnin Kebbi on Saturday, Matawalle said troops have made what he described as “substantial headway” since they were deployed to the area to track the abductors.

 

“The issue of security is sensitive, but so far, the intelligence we had at hand shows that we are almost close to those children,” he said, adding that operatives have intensified efforts across strategic corridors in Kebbi, Zamfara and parts of Niger State.

 

“Currently, we have deployed a lot of security agents to cover all and block most of the routes within Kebbi and Zamfara State and neighbouring Niger State. We need cooperation from the surrounding communities,” the minister appealed.

 

President Bola Tinubu had, earlier in the week, directed Matawalle to relocate to Kebbi to directly oversee the rescue mission. The former Zamfara governor is not new to crises of this nature; he was in office in 2021 when bandits seized 279 girls from Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe.

 

Mass abductions of schoolchildren continue to plague communities in the North-west and Niger State. On Friday, another large-scale kidnapping was recorded when over 300 children were taken from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State.

 

The worsening security situation has forced swift action from state governments. Both Katsina and Plateau ordered the immediate closure of schools after the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed the latest incidents. Their directives came just after the federal government shut down 47 Federal Unity Colleges—mostly in the North—citing escalating threats

to student safety.