President Bola Tinubu has welcomed the news of the release of the Kuriga school children in Kaduna State and emphasizes the importance of collaboration between the federal government and states for expected outcomes, especially on matters of security.
The President also commended the National Security Adviser, the Security Agencies, and the Kaduna State Government for the dispatch and diligence with which they handled this situation, noting that urgency, meticulous attention, and tireless dedication are critical to optimal outcomes in cases of mass abductions.
President Tinubu also welcomes the release of pupils of a Tsangaya school in Sokoto State, commending all the parties to the feat for their valiant effort.
The President assures Nigerians that his administration is deploying detailed strategies to ensure that our schools remain safe sanctuaries of learning, not lairs for wanton abductions.
This was contained in a statement by the President’s Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Most of the kidnaps in north-west Nigeria, including Kaduna state, are believed to be the work of criminal gangs trying to make money from ransoms.
In an attempt to curb Nigeria’s spiralling and lucrative kidnapping industry, a controversial law that made it a crime to make ransom payments was passed in 2022. It carries a jail sentence of at least 15 years, however no-one has ever been arrested.
Earlier this year, the family of a group of sisters kidnapped in the capital, Abuja, denied a police statement that the security forces had rescued the girls, saying that they had no choice but to pay the ransom.
There was global outrage when Islamist militants from the Boko Haram group seized nearly 300 girls in Nigeria’s north-eastern town of Chibok in 2014.
