Kebbi Gov Criticizes Military: ‘We Wouldn’t Have Followed Their Advice If We Knew They’d Abandon Our Girls’

Following the kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls from Government Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris has criticized the military’s handling of insecurity and called for an immediate change in strategy.

Speaking on Monday when receiving the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, at the Government House in Birnin Kebbi, the governor reaffirmed his demand for a complete probe regarding the removal of military soldiers from the school shortly before the bandits struck.

He remarked, “How can over 500 bandits be moving on bikes on our highways without being checked? We are fulfilling our responsibilities to the security services. We buy them more than 100 cars and handle their logistics, but their security architecture isn’t functioning.

The governor noted that the state would have closed the school instead of depending on military deployment if it had foreseen the army departure.

He also claimed, “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 closed the school.

Idris voiced concerns that certain people were purposefully undermining security initiatives.

“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 declared.

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 all need to make sure that this insecurity is dealt with.

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 contributed ₦30 million to the families of the dead school officials and encouraged Governor Idris to immortalise the vice principal for his gallantry.

“We are with you and we will continue to find how to secure the girls,” he declared.