President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State immediately as part of government’s coordinated efforts towards rescuing the 24 schoolgirls recently kidnapped by gunmen in the state.
And the presidential order is for Matawalle, a former Governor of Zamfara State, to stay put in the North West state to monitor security efforts meant to secure the release of the abducted students.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who conveyed the directive in a statement on Thursday night, said the Minister is expected to arrive in Birni-Kebbi, the State capital on Friday.
According to the statement by the Presidential spokesman, “He (Matawalle) gained some experience in dealing with banditry and mass kidnapping during his tenure as governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.
“On 26 February 2021, armed bandits abducted 279 female students, aged between 10 and 17 at the Government Girls Science Secondary School, a boarding school in Jangebe, in Zamfara State. The bandits released all the hostages on 2 March 2021.”
Meanwhile, President Tinubu had postponed his scheduled trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, while awaiting further security briefings on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls as well as the attack on Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
In a related development, the Senator representing Kebbi South in the National Assembly, Senator Garba Maidoki has expressed optimism that there would be an early rescue of the abducted schoolgirls.
Speaking on Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today on Wednesday, Senator Maidoki said, “We have a fair idea where the girls are, and we are sure they have not moved outside the Kebbi South Senatorial District.
“There is high hope that the girls will return home in one or two days.”
Maidoki’s comments came on the heels of Vice President Kashim Shettima’s visit to the community where he re-echoed the Federal Government’s resolve to rescue the girls and bring them back home unharmed.
Recalled that some unknown gunmen had on Monday, 17th November 2025, abducted the students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town, Kebbi State, around 4:00am.
However, reports later emerged that one of the students escaped shortly after the abduction, leaving 24 girls in captivity.
