The Governor of Kebbi State, Nasir Idris, has criticised the military’s handling of insecurity, calling for an urgent change in strategy following the abduction of 25 schoolgirls from Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Maga.
Speaking on Monday while receiving the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, at the Government House in Birnin Kebbi, the governor renewed his demand for a full probe into the withdrawal of military personnel from the school shortly before the bandits struck.
He said, “How can over 500 bandits be moving on bikes on our highways without being checked? We are doing our obligations to the security agencies. We provide them with logistics, bought over 100 vehicles for them but their security architecture is not working.”
The governor added that the state would have closed the school instead of relying on military deployment if it had foreseen the troop withdrawal.
He further stated, “If we knew they would leave our girls for the bandits to take away, we wouldn’t have listened to the advice they gave us to deploy security personnel. We would have just shut down the school.”
Idris expressed fears that some individuals were deliberately sabotaging security efforts.
He said, “I think some enemies are working to truncate this government and the federal government; and the House must do something, especially about the lingering security situation in the country.”
He warned that insecurity was spreading rapidly across states, “Yesterday it was Kebbi, today it is Niger and Kwara; who knows who is next? We must all see to it that this insecurity must be addressed.”
Earlier, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas said he led a delegation of lawmakers to commiserate with the government and people of Kebbi State over the abduction and the killing of the school’s vice principal and watchman.
Abbas donated ₦30 million to the families of the slain school officials and urged Governor Idris to immortalise the vice principal for his bravery.
He said, “We are with you and we will continue to find how to secure the girls.”
© 2025 Naijaonpoint, a division of NOP Media Inc. Contact us via [email protected]