President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to immediately relocate to Kebbi State following the abduction of 24 schoolgirls in the state.
The students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, were kidnapped by gunmen around 4 a.m. on Monday. Matawalle is expected to arrive in Birnin Kebbi on Friday and remain there to coordinate security operations aimed at rescuing the girls.
Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, previously managed large-scale banditry and kidnapping incidents, including the 2021 abduction of 279 female students in Jangebe, who were later freed.
The Presidency also confirmed that Tinubu postponed his planned trips to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, to monitor developments surrounding the Kebbi abduction and Monday’s attack on worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State.
