Kidnappers release hundreds of abducted Nigerian schoolgirls: Zamfara Governor

*Alhamdulillah! It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity ─Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

Day after the incident, gunmen have released girls kidnapped from a boarding school in Jangebe, in Zamfara State, North-West Nigeria.

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State disclosed this development via in a post on his verified Twitter account Tuesday, March 2, 2021, in which he shared pictures girls wearing Muslim veils.

The governor’s tweets, however, did not state how many girls had been released, but carried images of girls.

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State

Likewise, Yusuf Idris, a Spokesman for the governor, confirmed the girls had been safely returned and were all accounted for.

Idris did not comment when asked whether a ransom was paid for their release, reports CNN.

In his comment on the surging rate of kidnappings in the country of late, UNICEF Nigeria Representative was quoted to have said, “this is horrific for a whole generation of children.”

Recall that an armed gang abducted 317 girls from the Government Girls’ Junior Secondary School, in Jangebe town in the state, at around 1 a.m. Friday, February 26.

The governor stated on Twitter: “Alhamdulillah! It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity.

“This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe.”

ConsumerConnect had reported that schools, colleges, and other institution of learning have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom in Northern Nigeria by armed groups.

The trend was said to have started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, and later its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province (SWAP), through which criminal gangs have continued to perpetrate terrorists activities, including intimidation, kidnappings, threats to life and property, rape, and the like.

Though the Federal Government had repeatedly denied paying ransoms over the years, President Muhammadu Buhari, nonetheless, issued a statement Friday, by indirectly acknowledging the sub-national units’ ‘official’ payment of ransom to bandits and terrorists for their heinous crimes against the citizenry.

Buhari in the statement rather urged the state governments “to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously.”

The raid on schools in Zamfara State was the second such kidnapping in little over a week in the North-West, a region increasingly targeted by criminal gangs in recent times, according to report.

Gunmen released 27 teenage boys Saturday, February 27, 2021, who were kidnapped from their school February 17 in Niger State, North-Central region of the country.

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