President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Federal Government will not succumb to blackmail by bandits who target innocent school students in the expectation of huge ransom payments.

The President disclosed this in a social media statement on Friday evening, in reaction to the kidnap of students in Zamfara.

“Our primary objective is to get all the school hostages safe, alive and unharmed,” Buhari said.

Our primary objective is to get all the school hostages safe, alive and unharmed.

— Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) February 26, 2021

He added that the FG had the capacity to deploy massive force against the bandits in the villages where they operated; however, the Army was limited by the possibility of heavy casualties of innocent villagers and hostages who might be used as human shields by the bandits.

“A hostage crisis is a complex situation that requires maximum patience in order to protect the victims from physical harm or even brutal death at the hands of their captors,” he said.

The President said bandits and terrorists should not entertain the illusion that they were more powerful than the government.

“They shouldn’t mistake our restraint for the humanitarian goals of protecting innocent lives as a weakness or a sign of fear or resolution.

“We will not succumb to blackmail by bandits and criminals who target innocent school students in the expectation of huge ransom payments,” he added.

What you should know 

• It was reported that armed bandits kidnapped 317 female students at the Girls Secondary School, Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State on Friday.
• The Commissioner of Police in Zamfara, Abutu Yaro, said, “We are doing our best along with all sister security agencies, members of the vigilantè group and the state government to get to the bottom of this matter.”

The kidnapped school students and staff of Government Science Secondary School Kagara, in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, have been released according to sources.

This was disclosed in an exclusive report by Channels TV on Saturday morning.

According to the report, the release of the abductees was confirmed by a government official.

What you should know

• The students were abducted by the bandits dressed in military uniforms on Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
• A total of 27 students, three staff members, and 12 members of their family were abducted after the attack on the Kagara school in the early hours of Wednesday.
• President Muhammadu Buhari said that the Federal Government will not succumb to blackmail by bandits who target innocent school students in the expectation of huge ransom payments.

The Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, has said that no life has been lost in the cause of the recent military operations in Orlu.

This is as the governor, justified the recent invasion of Orlu town by the military, saying that the situation had gone beyond the local arrangement with the police being overwhelmed as sporadic shooting and killings persisted.

This disclosure was made by the Governor, while addressing reporters after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday, February 24, 2021.

He said that he had no choice but to alert the President on the need to send the military to help stop the mayhem and avoid a total breakdown of law and order in Orlu.

The Governor while addressing the press said, ‘’It was on my invitation that the military came and I did that because I know that the situation was beyond the local arrangement. We needed help and help were given to us. Those that came, through their intelligence, identified where those people were and I can tell you, all the people arrested, all the rifles recovered are intact. The people are under interrogation. Not even one soldier or one of those militants died in the process.’’

What you should know

• It can be recalled that the Imo State Government called for the intervention of the military over the criminal activities being perpetrated by suspected members of the Eastern Security Network.
• They are accused of using weapons stolen from police stations during the #EndSARS crisis to destroy Orlu, kill policemen and 4 Moslems doing their business in Orlu, all under the pretext that they are looking for herdsmen.

Governor of Imo @hopeuzodimma1 speaks. Please listen to him, to the end. It’s a short video. pic.twitter.com/kaZycBOakv

— tolu ogunlesi (@toluogunlesi) February 24, 2021