A Nigerian senator said on Wednesday that he was confident schoolgirls abducted in Kebbi State would be rescued soon, as security forces work to secure their release.
Senator Garba Maidoki, representing Kebbi South, told Channels Television’s “Politics Today” programme that the abductors had not taken the girls outside the senatorial district.
“We have a fair idea of where the girls are, and we are sure they have not moved outside the Kebbi South senatorial district,” Maidoki said. “There is a high hope that the girls will return home in one or two days.”
Maidoki described the incident as “the most unfortunate week” of his life. He visited the town of Maga, where the attack occurred, to console affected families.
“These are people to whom we assured that when we win the election, there would be security,” he said. “Security was the number one item on the agenda for my election. We will work with the government and other security agencies to ensure these children are brought back home. This will not be like the Chibok girls. They will come back home.”
The raid in Maga on Monday left the school’s vice principal dead after he resisted the gunmen. The attack comes amid a rising number of school kidnappings across Nigeria.
In 2014, Boko Haram abducted 276 students from Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State. More than 90 of the Chibok girls remain missing.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima visited the community on Wednesday at the request of President Bola Tinubu, emphasizing the administration’s priority to ensure the children’s safe return. The federal government has directed security agencies to deploy all available resources to rescue the girls.
