There was confusion on Tuesday as Islamist militant group, Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the abduction of students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, after bandits were said to have started negotiation with Katsina government and a parent of one of the kidnapped schoolboys. The government had previously blamed “bandits” for the attack.
Katsina State governor, Bello Masari, on Monday told President Muhammadu Buhari that the abductors of GSSS Kankara students had made contact with the government and that efforts were on to secure their release.
The governor said this while briefing President Buhari, who is in the state on a week-long visit. He said: “The kidnappers have made contact and discussions are already on pertaining to safety and return to their homes.”
Abdul Labaran, spokesman of the Katsina government, also disclosed in a chat with RadioNow FM that gunmen who attacked GSSS, Kankara schoolboys had contacted one of the parents of the abducted students. Labaran said the gunmen asked the parents to start making preparations for ransom to facilitate the release of the students.
Labaran also reportedly said the gunmen also asked the parents to warn security operatives to stop the surveillance on their hideouts to guarantee the safety of the students.
However, on Tuesday, Boko Haram said it was behind last week’s kidnapping of hundreds of schoolboys in Katsina State. In an audio message about the abductions, its leader Abubakar Shekau said “what happened in Katsina was our responsibility” and that his group opposed Western education.
Observers on Tuesday asked who the government was already negotiating with after Boko Haram laid claim to the abductions.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives on Tuesday said the lack of synergy among security agencies is chiefly responsible for the abduction of over 600 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara last Friday.’
Abdulrazak Namdas, Chairman, House Committee on Army, disclosed this while featuring as a guest on Channels Television programme ‘Politics Today’.
The lawmaker, who decried the lack of sharing of intelligence among security apparatuses said it was absurd how bandits will come to a school and abduct over 600 students and went away without any security agents in sight.
He said, “I think there is something I want people to realise. We have said it times without number that no security force alone can solve this issue of banditry or insurgency. The Army, Air Force or Police cannot do it alone. All the security agencies must work together. Once there is no synergy in the working relationship of the security agencies, I’m afraid we will never get the needed results.
“We have heard instances where all the security agencies have said they are working together and collaborating but I feel that what happened in Katsina is as a result of failure of synergy. I expect that the intelligence gathering mechanism should be up to date to the extent that people should be able to know that bandits will invade Katsina. With that knowledge, other security agencies will be at alert and work together to contain the situation.
“Till today, you can’t explain how bandits came and kidnapped over 600 students. Even if they are loaves of bread you are putting in a car, somebody should be able to stop you and retrieve some of these loaves of bread. But for people to successfully abduct these boys and get away only for us to follow them, I think it is the issue of synergy”.
The lawmaker said if something urgently is not done, Boko Haram is gradually achieving its aim of eradicating both Western education and Islamic education as its focus is to create fears into parents from sending their children to schools.
He also added that it was surprising that Boko Haram can still freely abduct large number of students in 2020 same way they did six years ago in Chibok, Borno State.
“I am worried that until we get further explanation, we are not getting it right. With what Boko Haram has just said, it is clear that we have to look back because they are almost achieving their aim of disrupting Western education and even Islamic education.
“This is because by the time, these number of students are released, they will be afraid and their parents will not send them to schools again. This is my fear at the moment”.
The lawmaker, who also canvassed for adequate funding for the military, said the Army got less funding in the 2021 budget compared to what it got in 2020.
“I have conducted oversight functions in the Army. I have moved round and we have seen that they have done their part. During the 2020 budget, the capital of the Army was about N34 billion. In 2021, it has come down to N27 billion. If we pass this figure the way it is, it means N27 billion is required to purchase arms and ammunitions, vehicles, renovation of barracks.
“You can see the level with which criminality is going. We will need to give them the better machinery they need to fight the insurgents. The Army as professional as they are must be able to work with other security agencies. Intelligence gathering is key and we are in the era of technology. If we cannot be able to gather intelligence and synergise, then we are going the wrong way”.
On what the House of Reps is doing to ensure the safe release of the students, he said, “Immediately, we got the news that these students were kidnapped, we spoke with the Army authorities and they told us they are in consultation with the command in Katsina and they are working with other security agencies to ensure that they forestall these. As I speak to you, they are already in the bush in Katsina”.
“This is too bad. We expect our security agencies to do more. Our children should come back so that we can have confidence in the system. Katsina State government has already closed down schools which means there will be no schools now and the situation will get worse”.
