President Bola Tinubu has asked the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State over the abduction of 25 schoolgirls in the state.

This was contained in a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday.

Matawalle, who was formerly governor of Zamfara State, was asked to remain in the state to monitor security efforts to secure the release of the abducted students.

Gunmen abducted 24 students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town, Kebbi State, around 4am on Monday.

Matawalle, who is expected to arrive in Birni-Kebbi on Friday, gained some experience in dealing with banditry and mass kidnapping during his tenure as governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.

On 26 February 2021, armed bandits abducted 279 female students aged between 10 and 17 at the Government Girls Science Secondary School, a boarding school in Jangebe, in Zamfara State. The bandits released all the hostages on 2 March 2021.

President Tinubu had postponed his scheduled trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, as he awaited further security briefings on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.