iDeemlawfulA fresh controversy has emerged over the release of the abducted schoolgirls from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS), Maga, in Kebbi State, as bandits now claim the girls were not rescued by security forces but freed only after a negotiated settlement.
Recall that on November 17, bandits attacked the school and abducted 25 female students after killing an official and injuring a security guard.
According to a BBC report, two of the girls escaped from their captors. Quoting Hussaini Aliyu, an official from Danko Wasagu LGA, the BBC reported that the two students ran away as they were being led into the bushes by the bandits and escaped across farmland.
On November 19, Hussaini Aliyu, chairman of Danko/Wasagu LGA in Kebbi, released the names of the 25 abducted schoolgirls.
On Tuesday, November 25, the 24 schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi state, returned home, with the government claiming they were rescued.
The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, who confirmed the release of the schoolgirls, said, “Our tactical team has successfully rescued the abducted students of Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, Kebbi State.
“This mission was carried out in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to ensure their safe return. I commend our security and intelligence forces for their swift response, dedication, and professionalism.”
Tinubu, in a statement by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, applauded the security agents for their efforts in securing the freedom of all the victims abducted by the terrorists.
They were not rescued, but released after negotiation
However, a video has surfaced online revealing that the government had negotiated with the abductors before the girls were set free.
In the footage, one of the armed men is heard questioning the schoolgirls about military aircraft that flew over the forest during their captivity.
He asks how many jets passed above them, and the girls respond, “uncountable.”
He also questioned the girls about whether they had been harmed or mistreated during captivity.
The students replied that they had not. The kidnapper then boasts that the authorities could not rescue the students by force and had to negotiate.
At the end of the video, one of the abductors declared, “We are letting you go after negotiations. Your government cannot rescue you with might. Your government has failed.”
The abduction of the students, which followed similar incidents in the region, had drawn widespread national concern.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, gunmen kidnapped 10 women and children from a village in Kwara State.
State police commissioner Ojo Adekimi said the attackers, a group of “herders”, had “shot sporadically” during the raid on Monday night on the village of Isapa, which neighbours another village where 35 people were kidnapped just a week before.
