A group of security analysts under the Keep Nigeria Safe Initiative, KNSI, has expressed confidence in the ability of the Minister of State for Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle, to secure the release of 25 students abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State.
Salient Times reports that the attack occurred in the early hours of Monday, November 17, when gunmen attacked the school, killing the Vice Principal, Malami Hassan Yakubu Makuku, and abducting the students to an unknown location.
Following the incident, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed Matawalle to relocate to Kebbi State to coordinate military and security efforts aimed at rescuing the girls.
Reacting to the President’s directive, KNSI said Matawalle’s prior experience as Governor of Zamfara State, where he handled multiple mass kidnappings and rescued thousands of victims without paying ransom, made him well-suited to lead the operation.
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The group also recalled Matawalle’s successful rescue of about 300 students from Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe, in 2021, as well as other mass kidnappings, emphasising his expertise in curbing banditry and terrorism in the North-West.
KNSI urged the Federal Government to revive the Safe Schools Initiative, launched in 2014 under President Goodluck Jonathan following the Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction. The initiative relocated students from high-risk areas and provided security infrastructure such as fencing and surveillance systems to protect schools.
The group stressed that reinstating the programme would strengthen school security nationwide and help prevent future abductions.
