President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to immediately relocate to Kebbi State following the abduction of 25 schoolgirls.
The directive was announced in a statement issued on Thursday by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, has been instructed to remain in Kebbi to oversee and monitor ongoing security operations aimed at rescuing the abducted students.
The gunmen attacked Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town around 4am on Monday, abducting 24 students.
Matawalle, expected to arrive in Birnin-Kebbi on Friday, previously dealt with several cases of banditry and mass kidnappings during his tenure as Zamfara governor from 2019 to 2023. One of the major incidents during his administration occurred in February 2021 when 279 female students were abducted in Jangebe but later released.
President Tinubu also postponed his planned trips to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, as he awaits further security updates on both the Kebbi schoolgirl abduction and the attack on Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
