Katsina State governor, Aminu Masari, on Sunday, has finally revealed that 333 students are missing following an attack on Government Science Secondary School, Kankara town in the state.
He confirmed these figures of students still missing when he received a Federal government delegation led by Babagana Monguno, National Security Adviser to the President on Sunday.
The governor who explained that the school has a population of 839 students said so far, those kidnapped cut across the state with the boarding school housing all children from all parts of the state and outside the state.
“Based on the available record we have, we are still searching for 333 students through either the forest or their parents to ascertain the actual number that has been kidnapped,” Governor Masari said.
“We are still counting because more are coming out from the forest and we are calling through the numbers those parents that have phone numbers to find out whether or not their children have gone back home.
“We as a government we are yet to be contacted by any group or person responsible for the kidnap of the students.”
On his part, the leader of the delegation and Minister of Defence, General Bashir Magashi, asked the armed forces, the police and other security agencies to move faster to ensure that the speedy rescue of the students.
The Defence Minister warned that Bandits must not be allowed to rest for a moment, adding that it is high time to declare the bandits as terrorists to encourage people to seat up.
“Today we are here also to sympathise with you over the recent abduction of secondary school students which is a more or less ruthless exercise conducted to temper with the education of the students,” he said.
“With the brief, we received from the sister security agencies in the state, this task will be very simple to accomplish.
“Within the next few hours, we will ensure that these people are back without any collateral damage to the people of Katsina State.
“All hands are on deck to ensure we accomplish our tasks within the armed forces and the police. I was here around August on the same kind of mission to sympathise with the government regarding the farmers/herders clashes.”
Gunmen had invaded the school on Friday night, shooting into the air to scare away people in the area.
The school is said to have a population of around 800 students, and according to the police, when the gunmen attacked, some of the students scaled the fence to escape.
Isah Gambo, spokesman of the Katsina police command, had earlier said 200 students were rescued as of Saturday morning.
On Saturday evening, Garba Shehu, spokesman to President Muhammadu Buhari, said the armed forces had located the hideout of the bandits in a forest.
The president, who directed security agencies to ensure the rescue of the abducted students, urged parents whose children fled home during the attack to notify the school.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Adamu, the inspector-general of police, has ordered the deployment of additional forces to Katsina to assist in rescue operations.
“The deployment, which includes personnel from the Police Tactical Squads and crack detectives from the Force Intelligence Bureau, will provide investigative support to the Katsina State Police Command,” a statement by Frank Mba on Saturday, read.
“They are also to work in sync with the military and other law enforcement agents in coordinated efforts aimed at rescuing the students, hunting down the perpetrators and bringing them to book.”
