President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to immediately relocate to Kebbi State to coordinate ongoing efforts to rescue the students abducted from Government Girls Science Secondary School in the Maga area earlier in the week.
The Presidency said the minister, a former governor of Zamfara State, would remain in Kebbi until significant progress is made toward securing the release of the victims.
The directive was contained in a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday.
Matawalle, who is expected to arrive in Birnin Kebbi on Friday, is believed to bring valuable field experience, having managed similar security crises during his tenure as Zamfara governor from 2019 to 2023. One of the most notable incidents during his administration was the abduction of 279 students from Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe, on February 26, 2021; the students were released on March 2, 2021.
Tinubu’s directive follows fresh security briefings on both the Kebbi school abduction and the attack on worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State.
The President had earlier postponed his scheduled trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, as he awaited further updates on the kidnapped schoolgirls and the Kwara attack.
He has also ordered the deployment of additional troops, mobile police units, and intelligence operatives to Eruku and surrounding communities in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State.
Security chiefs have been directed to track down the attackers without delay and intensify operations in other vulnerable areas.
