President Tinubu Directs Security Agencies To Rescue Abducted Zamfara Students

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed security agencies on Sunday to rescue female students abducted from the Federal University Gusau in Zamfara State.

Armed gunmen entered three hostels in the university on Friday and kidnapped 30 students, mostly females. After a couple of hours, the Nigerian Army disclosed that they had a gun battle with the terrorists and rescued seven students.

According to a report, out of 30 students, 21 are still in captivity while seven of them got rescued and two escaped.

Special Adviser to the President, Chief Ajuri Ngelale shared a statement, titled "President Tinubu directs security agencies to rescue remaining female students abducted at Federal University, Gusau."

In the statement, Ngelale mentioned that the president has directed security agencies to rescue the remaining female students, who were recently abducted by terrorists.

"Condemning the reprehensible act of abduction, the President says there is no moral justification for such heinous crimes against innocent victims whose only 'offense' was their pursuit of quality education," he said.

Ngelale further shared that the president "wholeheartedly commiserates with all families directly impacted by this sad incident" and affirms that his administration is committed to protecting every citizen.

He also assured all the families of the abducted students that no effort would be spared in ensuring their safe return. Moreover, the president pledged that the government will ensure that educational institutions remain sanctuaries of knowledge, growth, and opportunity, and are totally free from such terrorist acts.

Mani Mummuni, who serves as the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State, reached the university to sympathize and urged security agencies to quickly rescue the students.

The spokesperson for the Zamfara State Police Command, Yazid Abubakar explained the incident in a press statement, noting that armed bandits were riding on 50 motorcycles and invaded the three schools in Sabon Gida Village near the Federal University Gusau and kidnapped an "unspecified number of students" and took them to "unknown destination," as per Punch.

In a telephonic interview, the spokesperson admitted that the police don't have an actual number of students kidnapped.

"We can't say there are many that remain because we don't know the number that were abducted. All hands are on deck to make sure that the others are rescued, Insha Allah," he said, as per SaharaReporters.

He added, "We don't know the actual number but our men have been there since yesterday (Saturday), working on the rescue operation. Insha Allah, we will rescue all of them."

A resident of the village named Mohammed Ameen shared that many female students were kidnapped except those who narrowly escaped.

Another eyewitness said that the bandits had a gun battle with the troops but that didn't stop the bandits from kidnapping the students.

"It was a terrible and serious battle between the armed bandits and the Nigerian troops yet the bandits managed to escape with the kidnapped victims," the source told Vanguard.

Nigeria is suffering from a kidnap epidemic as within one year, 3,620 individuals were abducted between July 2022 to June 2023.