The 24 schoolgirls abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School (GGCSS), Maga, in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, have regained their freedom.
President Bola Tinubu expressed happiness over the development, saying he has ordered a total air security surveillance around forests in Kebbi, Kwara and Niger states.
The directive followed an upsurge in kidnapping and terrorist activities in the United States.
The president, in a statement yesterday by his Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, declared, “I am relieved that all the 24 girls have been accounted for.”
Tinubu applauded the security agents for their efforts to secure freedom for all the victims taken away by the terrorists. He tasked the security agents to make more efforts to rescue the remaining students still being held captive.
“Now, we must put as a matter of urgency more boots on the ground in the vulnerable areas to avert further incidents of kidnapping,” he stated. “My government will offer all the assistance needed to achieve this,” he added.
A source familiar with the government’s coordinated rescue effort disclosed that the schoolgirls’ release was occasioned by a non-kinetic intervention by the federal government.
According to the source, the operation succeeded through close collaboration between the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Department of State Services (DSS), which worked behind the scenes to secure the girls’ freedom without resorting to force.
The source explained that the reliance on a non-kinetic approach—centred on dialogue, negotiation, and other peaceful measures—reflected a continuing shift in the government’s strategy for addressing mass abductions, which have repeatedly affected the northern region in recent years
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