Some gunmen on Wednesday night invaded the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Moriki, Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, and abducted five persons including two caterers and three children.
Also, security was beefed up on Thursday in Daura and some of its surrounding villages after bandits kidnapped the Magajin Garin Daura, Alhaji Musa Umar, an in-law of President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.
Worried by the rising insecurity in the country particularly in the North, the House of Representatives on Thursday invited the President to address the lawmakers on what his administration was doing to stem the tide of killings and abductions in the country.
However, the Peoples Democratic Party knocked Buhari for the Zamfara girls’ school abduction, saying the President “wanders abroad,” while insecurity was rising in the country.
The opposition party called on the President to hurry back home to address the security challenge.
Confirming the attack on the GGSS, Moriki, on Thursday, the Zamfara State Police Command said though no pupil of the school was abducted, two caterers and their three children were kidnapped during the invasion.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mohammed Shehu, in a statement stated that armed men entered the school through the back fence with intent to abduct the schoolgirls.
He stated that after being alerted the police went to the scene, confronted the armed men and stopped them from gaining access to the girls’ hostels.
Sheu added, “The bandits took a retreat to the bush. No pupil was abducted as earlier reported by some media. However, two caterers and three of their children were later discovered missing. The police are collaborating with the school authorities to establish the whereabouts of the missing persons.”
The PPRO disclosed that a search and rescue operation team had been dispatched to the surrounding bushes.
“Security has been beefed up in the school and its environment to forestall further happening,” he added.
Zamfara seeks schools’ protection to avoid Chibok, Dapchi saga
Reacting to the abduction, the Zamfara State Government said it was committed to ensuring security of its schools, adding that such places needed special protection.
The Director General, Press Affairs, Bashir Ahmed, who spoke to one of our correspondents said, “The state government is committed to doing more to make places such as girls’ schools are more secure.
“Such places need special protection and consideration to avert a recurrence of Chibok and Dapchi girls’ schools’ saga.”
Bandits operating freely as Buhari wanders abroad – PDP
But the PDP urged President Buhari to immediately end his ‘private visit’ to the United Kingdom and return home to address the country’s deteriorating security situation.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
Ologbondiyan said it was unacceptable for Buhari to be pursuing undisclosed private matters abroad, while bandits and insurgents continue to kidnap and kill Nigerians.
He said, “President Buhari’s inattention has emboldened insurgents and bandits to continue to overrun communities and unleash mayhem on citizens in Borno, Zamfara, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba, Kaduna, Benue, Kogi and other states of the federation, including Buhari’s home state, Katsina.
“While President Buhari wanders abroad, bandits are having a field day, pillaging communities in Katsina State; killing several persons and abducting the district head of his hometown, Daura, Musa Umar; the father in-law of Mr President’s security aide.”
He added, “Within this period, marauders invaded communities in Adamawa and killed no fewer than 26 innocent Nigerians; many more have been killed in Borno, Taraba, Benue and Zamfara states, where bandits also reportedly attacked Government Girls’ Secondary School, Moriki, and kidnapped some schoolgirls.
“While the Buhari administration remains virtually nonchalant, kidnappers have taken over many of our major highways, with hundreds of compatriots held in captivity in forests along the Kaduna-Abuja, Taraba-Katsina-Ala and other highways in the country.”
The PDP spokesman claimed that Buhari had not displayed the required capacity to control the security situation.
He said there were reports that some of the bandits arrested in states such as Katsina, were not Nigerians but aliens allegedly imported by the All Progressives Congress from Niger Republic to assist it in unleashing violence and rigging during the 2019 general elections.
He said, “The fact remains that Buhari has completely failed our nation. In fact, his dereliction of duty is a clear signal that he has been practically overwhelmed, deflated and has nothing to offer.
“The situation in Nigeria today signposts the terrible condition our nation will face if the presidential mandate is not retrieved at the tribunal to enable competent and uncompromised hands to run the affairs of our country.
“The PDP, therefore, calls on Buhari to immediately return home and use the remaining part of his tenure to seek help instead of wandering abroad under the guise of private visits.”
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