BY Haleem Olatunji
President Muhammadu Buhari has issued a stern warning to “would-be terrorists” and bandits against attacking schools.
Speaking on the recent attack by bandits on the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Igabi LGA, Kaduna, he also commended the military for rescuing 172 of the students.
Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, conveyed Buhari’s message in a statement on Saturday.
TheCable had reported that the students were abducted when gunmen invaded the school in Afaka town in the early hours of Friday.
The abduction is the latest in a series of attacks carried out by bandits across schools in northern Nigeria.
Samuel Aruwan, the Kaduna commissioner for internal security and home affairs, had said 172 students and eight staff members were freed from the bandits, but 39 students are still unaccounted for.
According to Shehu, Buhari warned that the federal government will not allow the destruction of the school system by bandits.
He hailed the prompt intervention of the military, but urged that the others declared missing are found and returned safely to their families.
The president also commended the efforts and contributions of local intelligence in significantly confronting the kidnappers, adding that a country which has an efficient local intelligence network is a safer country.
He sympathised with victims of the incident, and called on members of the public to support the fight against banditry.
“Our military may be efficient and well-armed, but it needs good efforts for the nation’s defence and the local population must rise to this challenge of the moment,” the president said.
The Kaduna abduction comes about two weeks after bandits kidnapped more than 200 students from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara state.
Buhari had promised that with the ongoing efforts to improve security across the country, the Jangebe abduction would be the last.
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