NATIONAL: Buhari coordinated release of Kankara schoolboys from Daura –Lai Mohammed

THE Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Friday, defended President Buhari refusal to visit Government Science Secondary School in Kankara in the heat of the confusion and panic caused by the abduction of over 350 students of the school despite being in Katsina.

Defending his boss, the minister said though he did not visit Kankara, Katsina State where the students were abducted, President Buhari coordinated rescue efforts from his hometown, Daura.

Mohammed also gave an indication that the country could have received foreign support in the efforts that led to the release of the students on Friday.

At a press conference he addressed in Abuja, the information minister said, “Yes, the president did not visit the town but he was busy coordinating the entire operation to ensure the safe return of the students within the fastest time possible.”

The minister, who said students should not have to go to school in trepidation, added that the Federal Government was doing everything possible to secure all schools and all Nigerians.

He added, “The release of these schoolboys is a testament to the importance that this administration attaches to the security and safety of all Nigerians.

“There is no government in the world that will not face the challenges of security at one time or another. No government in the world is immune to terrorist attacks.

“What stands any government out is the way and manner it responds to such challenges. For example, school shooting has been a recurring challenge in the United States. Between 2010 and 2020, almost 200 school children were killed and many more injured in various school shooting incidents.

“Needless to say that the world’s most powerful country suffered a tragic terrorist attack in September 2011 that claimed almost 3,000 lives. In France, between 2010 and 2020, 286 people were killed in various terrorist incidents. And in New Zealand, in March 2019, 49 people were killed in shootings at two mosques in Christ Church, New Zealand.

“I have given these instances to support the fact that no nation, no matter how powerful, is immune to security challenges.”