Katsina shuts all public schools as bandits ‘kidnap 600’ Kankari students

The Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, on Saturday, ordered the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools in the state following the abduction of many students by gunmen in Kankara Local Government Area.

The governor gave the directive while visiting the council area where gunmen abducted an unspecified number of students of the Government Science Secondary School (GSSS), Kankara, on Friday night.

Reports say 600 out of the 800 GSSS schoolboys were missing after the attack.

Masari is the Nigerian governor who, in 2019, announced that he would meet with bandits in their hideouts. It seems the meeting to pacify the suspected criminals have not paid off. This November, the governor launched a gadget to track bandits. He later said most of them are from Zamfara.

“The situation goes beyond one’s thinking,” Masari said on Saturday.

“It’s a sad moment for Katsina, I am assuring parents of the missing students we will do anything humanly possible to rescue the children, it’s our responsibility to protect lives and properties.

“As I am speaking to you now, the soldiers are in the bush engaging the militants in a fire fight, I plead with you to exercise patience, we will rescue the children and I also ordered for the closure of all schools to save the children,” the governor said.

The governor further assured that both governments at federal and state levels were doing their best to bring an end to banditry and other debilitating criminal activities in the state.

He said the government is very firm in its resolve to be ruthless in any engagement with the militants.