KATSINA: Buhari meets released Kankara schoolboys

PRESIDENT Buhari this afternoon met with the students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina, who were released last night after seven days in their kidnappers’ den.

The Personal Assistant on New Media to the President, Bashir Ahmad, had hinted in a tweet that Buhari would be meeting with the students.

However, the president who was meant to have received the schoolboys at 3pm, did not meet them until about 4pm, after some of the students had started sleeping off, a situation which drew criticisms from commentators on social media and some Tv stations.

Over 350 students were kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be bandits who stormed the secondary school last Friday, but a very few of them had managed to escape.

Boko Haram had claimed that it was responsible for the kidnapping but this claim has been shrouded on controversy, even as faction leader of the sect, Shekau released a video on Wednesday showing the boys in captivity.

The remaining 344 were released yesterday Thursday, December 17, and spent the night in Tsafe in Zamfara State. They were driven to Katsina State this morning amidst tight security.

But President Buhari met the students at the Presidential lodge of the Government House, Katsina at about 4pm. This was hours after the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, had formally received the students at 9.30am and treated them to a reception.

After the reception, the students who had returned in their unkempt state, all barefooted with a few limping, had had their bath and were given new dresses.

Speaking in Hausa, the president congratulated the children for their safe return, and assured them that his administration would always provide security for them and other Nigerians

He stressed that the government would continue to improve the nation’s security system.

Governor Aminu Masari, in his address, told the president of the traumatic experiences the students had in the hands of their abductors.

He said, “These students returned barefooted. None of them wore any sandals while they were being brought here.”

Masari, nonetheless, thanked God, the president, and security agents for their (the students) safe return.

Meanwhile, the debriefing of the students is expected to begin on Saturday.

Governor Masari had hinted at his reception that since the students were drawn from all parts of the state and beyond, all the 34 local government authorities would be involved in the debriefing and rehabilitation process, including medical attention, before they would be handed over to their parents and guardians.

Buhari had been heavily criticised by many Nigerians for visiting his cattle ranch in Daura when the whereabouts of the abducted schoolboys were yet to be known.

But defending the president, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, at a press conference on Friday.

When asked why the president failed to visit Kankara despite that he was in the state as of the time of the abduction, the 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.”