Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Bello, has debunked reports that abducted students and members of staff of Government Science College, Kagara, have been released, describing the news as a rumour.
Some students and staff of the school were kidnapped last Wednesday morning, with one death reported.
The Governor said: “Everything that is being said out there is rumour and in situations like this, we cannot work with rumours, it has to be confirmed. Yes, we’ve been receiving different rumours from different people within villages but we are still treating those as rumour until processed and confirmed.”
Bello, speaking after a meeting with Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, at the Government House, Minna, on Friday, February 19, regretted that the school abduction was the second high profile one occurring in the state within a few days.
Earlier on Friday, pictures of Gumi meeting with some bandits in a forest in Niger State surfaced online. He thereafter proceeded to the Government House where he met with the governor.
Speaking on the encounter, he stated to the press: “The outcome is very positive because if you have warring factions and each faction says that I have complaints and grievances which are very simple, I think there is hope.”
However, Governor Bello, while briefing the press, said: “Regarding the event of the past few days where we have two serious cases of kidnappings –the NTSA (Niger State Transport Authority) bus that was kidnapped (with passengers). And the second event took place at the Secondary School in Kagara.
“As at this moment, we do not have any additional information to give apart from the one given earlier on, yesterday. But I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can, we are interfacing with the local communities, with federal authorities and our own state authorities to ensure that we recover the victims safely.
“Our utmost priority right now is to make sure we bring them back home safe and that is exactly what we are going to do. So, there hasn’t been any information I can give you at this moment but once we have anything for you, we will let you know.”
Bello said the state was ready to engage anyone willing to assist with the rescue of the abducted persons, hence his meeting with Sheikh Gumi.
While awaiting a comprehensive report of the findings of Gumi, the Governor stated, the state was exploring kinetic and non-kinetic means to secure the release of the abductees.