President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, to move to Kebbi State following the kidnapping of 24 schoolgirls.
Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, has been instructed to stay in Kebbi and oversee security operations aimed at rescuing the abducted students.
The girls, who attend Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, were kidnapped by gunmen around 4 a.m. on Monday.
Matawalle is expected to arrive in Birnin Kebbi on Friday. During his time as governor of Zamfara between 2019 and 2023, he handled several cases of banditry and mass kidnappings, including the 2021 abduction of 279 schoolgirls from Jangebe.
Those students were released a few days later.
President Tinubu has also postponed his planned trips to South Africa and Angola as he awaits further security updates on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State.
