Bandits kidnap 73 students in gov’s community, prompting Matawalle to call for self-defense

The abduction of 73 students from Government Day Secondary School, Kaya in the state’s Maradun local government area was confirmed by the Zamfara state Police Command on Wednesday.

The governor is from Maradun, the local government area’s headquarters.

SP Muhammad Shehu, the command’s public relations officer, confirmed the development in a statement, saying the abduction occurred after a large number of armed bandits invaded the school at exactly 1122 hours.

Shehu stated, “The Command, led by CP Ayuba N Elkanah psc+, has deployed a search and rescue team that was mandated to work in tandem with the military to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted students.”

Elkanah also urged the general public, particularly parents and relatives of the abducted students, to remain patient and pray for the ongoing rescue operation’s success.

“Security has also been beefed up at Kaya Village and environs to forestall further attack on the communities,” the statement continued, emphasizing that more information would be made available to the public.

The governor encourages people to help themselves.

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Meanwhile, the state’s governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has urged residents to defend themselves from bandit attacks.

Matawalle made the remarks during a special prayer session organized by his administration on Wednesday to seek God’s intervention in the state’s current insecurity challenges.

Among those present were prominent Islamic scholars from the state as well as top government officials.

“I am calling on the people of the state, particularly rural communities, to use all available weapons at their disposal and protect themselves whenever they are attacked by bandits within their respective domains,” the governor said at the event.

“From now on, whenever these bandits storm your villages, I am directing our law abiding citizens, particularly those at the grassroots, to come out en masse and confront them with every available weapon you have at your disposal,” the governor said.

“I am confident that if this measure is implemented, the issue of banditry will be resolved quickly,” Mutawalle added.

Bandits are hit by a NAF jet.

In a separate incident, armed bandits were killed by a fighter jet from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) at a school building in the state’s Shinkafi local government area on Sunday.

The jet also carried out air offensives in the areas of Zangon Dammaka and Jajaye, where Kachalla Haru and his loyalists had taken refuge.

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All of the operations over the weekend, according to an intelligence operative involved in the joint military operation in Zamfara State, were successful, according to PRNigeria.

“On August 29, 2921, at approximately 2 p.m., credible intelligence was received that over 100 armed bandits had surrounded a school building in Galadi’s Gidan Rijiya village, Shinkafi LGA, Zamfara State.

“A NAF Alpha Jet was then dispatched to conduct an assault on the location as part of Operation Hadarin Daji. Countless bandits were killed and their weapons were destroyed as a result of the assault strike.

“Aerial strikes were also carried out on Halilu Tubali’s enclave in Sububu forest. Except for one building, all of the operations were successful with no collateral damage.”

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While the exact number of casualties is unknown, a local source told PRNigeria that the number of motorcycles destroyed at Gidan Rijiya Village could have eliminated more than 50 bandits.

Meanwhile, PRNigeria was unable to contact the Nigerian Airforce spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, because his phone was not working.