Aminu Masari, Governor Katsina State
Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari has disclosed that majority of the missing children are in the forest in Zamfara, but God willing, they’ll be returned safely.
Governor Masari who disclosed this in an interview on Monday evening said, “I was told that they spoke with a teacher whose son was also kidnapped that the bandits said the helicopter should stop roving and that they will collect ransom but they didn’t specify. And so they ended the call”.
He said that the bandits however ordered that adequate money should be earmarked and budgeted by those concerned pending the completion of the ongoing rescue mission.
The governor, therefore, solicited prayers and urged the parents to remain calm and patient as “we are doing everything possible to rescue the children.”
“Information available to me shows that 17 of the missing children have been found. 15 of them were found around Dinya in Danmusa, I was informed by the DPO. One other was found through them and the last, the father called that his son has returned home.”
“All these missing children who have been found have been reunited with their families since we have shut down the schools,” Masari said.
He added that the victims escaped unconditionally and one of the abducted children’s father, who is also a teacher at the school was contacted by the captors who warned that security forces should stop using helicopters around their hideouts.
“We are still counting because more are coming out from the forest and we are calling through the numbers those parents that have phone numbers to find out whether or not their children have gone back home,” he said when he received a federal government delegation led by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno.
The attack prompted the Katsina State Government to order the closure of all boarding schools in the state, a move aimed at forestalling similar occurrence.
Masari also on Monday told President Muhammadu Buhari that the abductors have contacted the state government.
