KATSINA: Why we couldn’t stop gunmen from abducting Kankara students – Military

THE Military on Monday dismissed the claim of incompetence made against it by many commentators on the recent abduction of the Government Science Secondary School Kakanra students.

The Coordinator of Media Defence Operations Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, debunked the claim while giving reasons why the bandits had a field day abducting the school boys

Narrating how the abduction happened, Enenche said the gunmen took the boys away on motorcycles using them (the boys) as human shield.

He added that the kidnappers came to the school premises on Friday night, shot dead one of the two policemen on guard, incapacitated the other and entered the facility.

Appearing on a Channels television programme ‘Politics Today,’ Gen. Enenche said the gunmen arrived at the school about 10:45pm.

“They were moved on the motorcycles they (gunmen) brought and after a short distance, some of them continued with their motorcycles, others dismounted. As they dismounted, one of the boys escaped; others had to trek long distances. Of course, that is their usual characteristics. It is the same system; the same approach they used. There was no evidence, no information about them using other modes of transport.”

“They were using the pupils as human shield and we do not want casualties among the pupils. The main issue is that none of the pupils was killed in the process,” the Defence spokesman said.

He confirmed that 333 pupils were missing as at 2pm on Sunday.

He admitted that he got information about the gunmen reaching out to the government through the media and other sources.

The abductors have now opened talks with the Katsina State government after claiming responsibility for the kidnap.

They have made a ransom demand in addition to requesting that the military stop its aerial surveillance.

The gunmen, Maj-Gen Enenche said, beat the intelligence behind the Save Schools Initiative put in place to secure pupils in schools.

The programme was initiated after the Chibok school abduction in 2014.