Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, has said President Muhammadu Buhari did not visit Kankara, Katsina State, where 344 students of Government Science Secondary School were abducted, because he was coordinating efforts for the schoolboys’ release.
Mohammed stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Friday while providing the Federal Government’s response on the rescue of the students, who were recovered on Thursday.
“Yes, the president did not visit the town but he was busy coordinating the entire operation to ensure the safe return of the students within the fastest time possible,” Mohammed said in response to a question of the president’s non-presence in Kankara despite being in Daura, his hometown, also in Katsina State.
Mohammed also noted that while it is the responsibility of every government to provide security, no government worldwide is immune to security challenges, particularly terrorist attacks.
The minister said the incidents in Kankara, Chibok and Dapchi were totally unacceptable.
He said children should not have to go to school in trepidation, and gave an assurance that the government will do its best to secure all schools and all Nigerians.
He said: “The release of these schoolboys is a testament to the importance that this administration attaches to the security and safety of all Nigerians.
“There is no government in the world that will not face the challenges of security at one time or another. No government in the world is immune to terrorist attacks.
“What stands any government out is the way and manner it responds to such challenges. For example, school shooting has been a recurring challenge in the United States. Between 2010 and 2020, almost 200 school children were killed and many more injured in various school shooting incidents.
“Needless to say that the world’s most powerful country suffered a tragic terrorist attack in September 2001 that claimed almost 3,000 lives. In France, between 2010 and 2020, 286 people were killed in various terrorist incidents. And in New Zealand, in March 2019, 49 people were
killed in shootings at two mosques in Christ Church, New Zealand.
“I have given these instances to support the fact that no nation, no matter how powerful, is immune to security challenges.”
The minister also insisted that Abubakar Shekau, leader of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, lied over the true identity of the abductors.
According to Mohammed, local bandits, and not Boko Haram, abducted the students, adding that the terrorist group is weakened and is trying to gain relevance by making such claim.
“The children were kidnapped by bandits not Boko Haram; the attempt by the insurgent group to take responsibility shows how decimated they are.
“Boko Haram is seeking relevance by trying to appropriate to themselves the handwork of bandits and sending out fake videos.
“Boko haram is weakened and seeking for relevance and giving the impression that they are still a potent force,’’ he said.
The students were escorted by security personnel into Katsina State on Friday after sleeping over the night before in Gusau, Zamfara State.
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