333 students not missing, Presidency counters Masari

The presidency on Sunday countered the Katsina State Governor, Bello Masari, on the number of students abducted by armed bandits from a government college in the state.

Masari, who met with a Federal Government’s delegation led by the Minister of Defence, Major Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd), had said at least 333 students are still missing.

However, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a chat with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said only 10 students are with the bandits.

The bandits had on Friday night attacked the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, and took away an unspecified number of students from the college.

The BBC Hausa bulletin read: “The Government of Nigeria has said its security forces have surrounded the location where gunmen have kept schoolchildren abducted from a secondary school in Katsina State.

“Spokesman for the President, Mallam Garba Shehu, told the BBC only 10 students were remaining in the hands of the gunmen according to their colleagues who escaped from the gunmen.

“The number is below figures released by school authorities at the beginning. Garba Shehu said the school children who escaped said 10 of their friends were still with their abductors.”