Mass Abductions: Tinubu Orders Sweeping Security Lockdown Across Kwara, Niger, Kebbi Forests
President Bola Tinubu has directed a comprehensive security cordon around forests in Kwara, Niger, and Kebbi States in response to a wave of kidnappings and terrorist activities unsettling the region.
The directive, announced on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, via his X handle, includes an expansion of Nigerian Air Force surveillance operations deep into forested areas believed to be insurgent hideouts.
According to Dare, the Air Force is to maintain round-the-clock aerial surveillance to reinforce ground troops already deployed across the affected states. He added that the order is aimed at speeding up rescue efforts for the large number of abducted persons still in captivity.
Communities across the affected states have also been urged to provide prompt and credible information on suspicious movements to aid the operations of security agencies.
The renewed military action follows a series of coordinated attacks in recent days. In Niger State, terrorists stormed St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, abducting more than 300 students and staff in one of the country’s most significant mass kidnappings in years.
A similar attack in Kebbi State saw 25 schoolgirls taken from Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Maga, in Danko Wasagu Local Government Area. In Kwara State, 38 worshippers were seized during a church service in Eruku.
While at least 50 of the abducted St. Mary’s students managed to escape, more than 265 schoolchildren and teachers remain in captivity.
Nigeria has struggled with recurrent mass abductions since the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls tragedy, in which 276 students were taken by Boko Haram. Over a decade later, about 90 of those girls remain unaccounted for.
The country continues to grapple with layered security challenges driven by jihadist insurgency and the rampage of armed bandit gangs notorious for raiding communities, killing residents, and abducting victims for ransom.
EDITOR
Sam Udekwe is a journalist working in the News and Current Affairs department, Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) Enugu. He is well trained in all genres of journalistic venture.
Mr Sam read Mass Communication, graduating all with Distinction in National Diploma, Higher National Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma at IMT, Enugu and Madonna University, Okija, Anambra state, as well as M.Sc Mass Communication with Second Class(Upper Division) at National Open University of Nigeria.
He is the immediate past NUJ Chairman, Enugu state.
samowailo@gmail.com
