Schoolboys
Governor Masari: Kidnapped Katsina schoolboys moved to Zamfara
Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, says the schoolboys kidnapped last week have been moved by their captors to a forest in neighbouring Zamfara State. Gunmen invaded the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, on Friday, December 11, 2020, with over 300 students unaccounted a week later. In an interview with BBC Hausa on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, Masari said most of the abducted students are believed to be in the forest in Zamfara. “Right now the security forces have surrounded all these places where the children are thought to be,” he said. Masari had said earlier this week that the government has already commenced negotiations with the kidnappers. He reiterated on Wednesday that this was to ensure the students are returned unhurt. He also disclosed that 400 students ar...
Families of kidnapped Katsina schoolboys fear time running out
Families of more than 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys worried they may be brainwashed or held for years as security forces combed a vast forest on Wednesday for armed captors possibly from the jihadist Boko Haram movement. According to an unverified audio clip, the Islamist group – whose name means “Western education is forbidden” – was responsible for last week’s raid on an all-boys school in the town of Kankara in northwestern Katsina state. Parents fear time may be running out: Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters. “They will radicalise our children if the government does not act fast to help us rescue them,” said trader Shuaibu Kankara, crying as he spoke from home. His 13-year-old son Annas was among those abducted from the Government Science school on...
Senators decry executive’s disregard for resolutions on insecurity
Federal lawmakers, on Tuesday, deplored the federal government’s continued disregard for Senate’s resolutions on the issue of national security. The Senators spoke while contributing to a motion on the recent kidnapping of students at the Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State. The Red Chamber had twice called for the replacement of the service chiefs. The lawmakers, in their various contributions to the motion, expressed deep frustration over the recurring issues of killings and kidnappings across the country and the inability of the security agencies to address the challenges. They insisted that the service chiefs had overstayed and should allow other officers with fresh ideas to take over. Senator Mohammed Sani Musa (APC, Niger) said, “Every day, people are dying and nothing ...
