VIDEO: ‘We Will Fight Day And Night Until We Rescue Kebbi Schoolgirls’ — COAS Orders Troops
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Waidi Shaibu, has ordered troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA to fight “day and night” until the 25 abducted schoolgirls taken from the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State are rescued.
Shaibu gave the directive during a visit to the affected community, in a video seen by Naija News House on Tuesday morning.
Addressing the commanders and troops, the Army Chief warned that bandits had adopted a pattern of targeting soft locations and must be confronted with superior strategy and intelligence.
“We will continue to fight day and night until we find these students,” he said.
“To the commanders here, leverage on intelligence so that we conduct an intelligence-based mission to rescue these girls. This has become a pattern that bandits prey on soft targets. If they know you’re in a location they wouldn’t come to, or they’ll push you for a fight, and you can defeat them, can’t you. I’m asking you. So you do that.”
The Kebbi State Police Command confirmed that no fewer than 25 students were abducted during the early Monday morning attack on the school.
The bandits, described as heavily armed, stormed the school around 4:00 am and engaged policemen on duty in a fierce gun battle.
Despite the officers’ resistance, the attackers reportedly scaled the perimeter fence and forcefully removed the girls from their hostel.
Police spokesperson, CSP Nafi’u Abubakar Kotarkoshi, said one staff member, identified as Hassan Makuku, was killed, while another, Ali Shehu, sustained a gunshot injury to his right hand.
Following the incident, the Commissioner of Police, Bello Muhammad Sani, deployed more tactical units alongside soldiers and vigilante groups to intensify search efforts.
He said the joint security team was combing suspected escape routes and surrounding forests to track the kidnappers and rescue the victims.
Sani urged residents to remain calm and vigilant, assuring them of the Command’s commitment to safeguarding lives and property.
Earlier reports indicated that the terrorists invaded the school while students were preparing for their morning routines, shooting sporadically and causing widespread panic.
Although several girls were taken, residents said that the abductors “have not gone far” and called on both federal and state authorities to act swiftly.
The abduction has sparked renewed concerns over insecurity in northern Nigeria, particularly the recurring attacks on schools by armed groups targeting young female students.
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