Kebbi State Governor, Mohammed Nasir Idris, has condemned security agencies for allegedly ignoring intelligence that could have prevented Monday’s deadly attack on Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area.
In the early hours of the day, armed attackers stormed the school, killing the vice principal and abducting 25 female students. Three of the abducted students later escaped.
Governor Idris visited the school around 6:45 p.m. on Monday and expressed anger that security operatives failed to act on what he described as credible alerts issued by the Department of State Services (DSS) ahead of the assault.
He accused certain agencies of frustrating his administration’s security plans by not responding to the intelligence provided.
“This is clear sabotage. We got credible intelligence from the DSS that this school was likely to be attacked. DSS further advised that we convene an emergency Security Council meeting which we did. And the decision was that we would provide round-the-clock protection for the students,” the governor said.
He added that he took the DSS warning seriously, recalling that failure to act on similar intelligence contributed to the December 2020 kidnapping of over 300 pupils in Kankara, Katsina State.
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Governor Idris stated that security personnel had been assigned to guard the school. However, rather than remaining on alert, they reportedly spent time taking photographs with the students and left their posts just 30 minutes before the attack.
Accompanied by state security chiefs during his visit to the school, Idris announced the establishment of a special investigation panel to probe how the kidnappers were able to carry out the assault despite prior intelligence and government security measures. The panel, which will also coordinate efforts to ensure the safe return of the abducted students, will be chaired by the State Director of the DSS.
A teacher who escaped the attack told TVC News that he was shocked by the incident. He recalled that several armed personnel had been stationed at the school on Sunday, interacting with students and staff and conducting emergency drills.
“The heavily armed security men spent the entire night guarding the school. Sadly, for yet-to-be determined reasons, they reportedly left the school before dawn. About 30 minutes after they withdrew, the kidnappers struck, abducting the students,” the teacher said.
He noted that the reliability of the DSS intelligence, along with Governor Idris’s confidence in it, likely influenced the decision to appoint the DSS director to lead the special investigation panel.
“The good news is that there is sufficient reason to believe that the girls were kidnapped, not killed. With ongoing efforts by the federal and state governments, we are hopeful that they will all be rescued,” he stated.
