Yusuf Bello| Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger state on Friday assured that the state government is meeting with local authorities to ensure the safe release of the students and members of the staff of Government Science College, Kagara, abducted by bandits Wednesday morning.
Bello who gave the assurance the Government House in Minna, the state capital, shortly after meeting Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, also described as ‘rumour’ the news of the purported release of the abductees by the bandits.
He said, “As at this moment, we do not have any additional information to give apart from the one given earlier on, yesterday. But I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can, we are interfacing with the local communities, with federal authorities and our own state authorities to ensure that we recover the victims safely.
“Our utmost priority right now is to make sure we bring them back home safe and that is exactly what we are going to do. So, there hasn’t been any information I can give you at this moment but once we have anything for you, we will let you know.”
“Everything that is being said out there is rumour and in situations like this, we cannot work with rumour, it has to be confirmed. Yes, we’ve been receiving different rumours from different people within villages but we are still treating those as rumour until processed and confirmed.”
The governor, who expressed concern over the lack of manpower and efficiency by security agencies in the state,however, urged the parents and families of the abducted persons not to despair, as the government hopes to secure their release in hours or days.
According to him, adequate security personnel have also been deployed to Kagara town and environs to boost security in the area, which he said, has boosted the morale of the people.
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