Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, on Sunday said he had many revelations to make about the attack on Government Girls’ Secondary School, Jangebe on Friday, when over 300 students were abducted.
The governor, who stated this when 17 Emirs in the state paid him a sympathy visit over the abduction of the schoolgirls, said Nigerians would be shocked to know people behind the abduction of the girls.
Also during the visit, the Emir of Anka and Chairman of Zamfara state Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Attahiru Anka, berated the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), over the upsurge in killings and kidnappings by bandits in the country.
Recall that gunmen on Friday attacked GGSS Jangede, and abducted over 300 girls, while seven of the girls escaped while they were being taken into the bush.
The attack occurred almost two weeks after bandits abducted 27 students and 15 workers of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State.
Before the attack in Kagara, bandits had struck in Kundu village, also in Niger State and abducted passengers of the state transport service bus.
Commenting on the rising insecurity in the country, the Emir of Anka blamed the Federal Government.
He said, “The Federal Government is in total control of the security operatives in the country and not the state governors, as such the President is the one who has failed to address the issue of insecurity.”
In his response, Matawalle thanked the Emirs for the solidarity visit and assured them that he would not abandon his peace accord with the bandits no matter what the people would say.
He said “As we await the arrival of the released kidnapped students of GSSS Jangebe at the Government House today, I want to inform you that there are many revelations in relation to the abduction of these students.”
“Many people will be surprised to hear those people behind the abduction of these innocent children.”
“They are not comfortable with the progress I am getting as a result of my peace initiative and they want to do all they can to sabotage my efforts”.
“I will insha Allah succeed at the end of the day and they will bury their faces in shame,” said the governor.
Meanwhile, there was confusion over the release of the schoolgirls on Sunday. While top government officials and the state governor said they had been released, an online newspaper, The Cable reported the state Commissioner for Information and Culture, Suleiman Anka, said they had not been released.
But earlier on Sunday, the governor while receiving Emirs, who visited him, said government was awaiting the arrival of “the released kidnapped students of GSSS Jangebe at the Government House today (Sunday).”
As the confusion over the release of the girls worsened on Sunday, the governor and other top government officials left the Government House where they had been awaiting the arrival of the students.
None of them told journalists, who were at the Government House, where they were going, but a top source told one of our correspondents that they went to Anka, a distance of 79 kilometres to the state capital.
Also on Sunday, a high powered Federal Government’s delegation led by o the Minister of Aviation Alhaji Hadi Sirika, condoled with state government over the abduction of schoolgirls at GSSS Jangebe.
Delivering his speech on behalf of the President, Sirika said the Federal Government was deeply concerned with the abduction at the GSSS Jangebe.
He stated, “The President is deeply concerned and worried about the abduction of students in Zamfara State and other states where such incidents occurred”