President Muhammadu Buhari will receive the freed Kankara Schoolboys in Katsina on Friday. This comes after their release on Friday by their abductors who were believed to be Boko Haram members.
The President in a statement released by his Personal Assistant on New Media, Mr Bashir Ahmad on his official Twitter handle on Friday 18th December 2020, said the President will receive the rescued students of the Government Science Secondary School (GSSS), Kankara later this afternoon in Katsina. This comes a few hours after the news of their release by the Boko Haram Terrorists group.
The over 300 abducted Kankara schoolboys from the all-boys Government Science Secondary School in northwestern Katsina state, were abducted last Friday.
Around 800 students had been present at the school when it was attacked by armed men on December 11, with hundreds held captive by Abu Shekau’s jihadists.
Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari announced on Thursday that 344 boarding school students have now been turned over to security officials.
The boys will be brought to the capital of Katsina, where they will get physical examinations before being reunited with their families.
‘At the moment, 344 of the students have been released and handed over to the security operatives. I think we can say at least we have recovered most of the boys, if not all of them,’ he said.
The Government will be ‘working with the police and also to engage private security firms to safeguard schools’ and prevent the ‘ugly experience of the last six days,’ Masari added.
President Muhammadu Buhari welcomed their release, calling it ‘a big relief to their families, the entire country and to the international community.’
Buhari noted his administration’s successful efforts to secure the release of previously abducted students and added that the leadership ‘is acutely aware of its responsibility to protect the life and property of Nigerians.’