Katsina 333 schoolboys: Presidency, Gov Masari clash over the number of boys abducted

The Presidency and the Katsina State Governor, Bello Masari have clashed on Sunday over the number of boys abducted from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State by suspected bandits.

Newsflash247 had earlier reported that Governor Aminu Masari had 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.”

But the Presidency on Sunday night has disagreed with Governor Bello Masari, over the number of boys abducted from the school.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, told the BBC Hausa Service that only 10 boys are with the bandits.

The BBC Hausa bulletin read, “The Government of Nigeria has said its security forces have surrounded the location where gunmen have kept schoolchildren abducted from a secondary school in Katsina State.

“Spokesman for the President, Mallam Garba Shehu, told the BBC only 10 children were remaining in the hands of the gunmen according to their colleagues who escaped from the gunmen.

The number is below figures released by school authorities at the beginning.

Garba Shehu said the school children who escaped said 10 of their friends were still with their abductors.”

The President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently in Daura, Katsina State, on vacation, had come under fire on social media for failing to visit the school where the boys were abducted.

Buhari instead sent a delegation from Abuja to visit the school and sympathise with their parents.

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