By Tgnews Reporter
The Senate has issued an urgent call to President Bola Tinubu to authorize the recruitment of at least 100,000 additional military personnel, following the brazen abduction of 25 schoolgirls from a secondary school in Kebbi State.
The resolution, passed during a tense plenary session today, underscores the lawmakers’ growing frustration with the nation’s overstretched security forces amid a surge in terrorist attacks and kidnappings.
The motion of urgent national importance was sponsored by Senator Abdullahi Yahaya (APC, Kebbi North), who painted a grim picture of the latest atrocity in the Kebbi South Senatorial District.
On Monday evening, armed terrorists stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area, abducting 25 female students from their hostel and brutally injuring the school’s vice principal, Hassan Yakubu Makuku, who later succumbed to his wounds.
Eyewitnesses described a chaotic scene as gunmen scaled the school’s fence under cover of darkness, exchanging fire with responding police units before vanishing into nearby forests with their young captives.
“This terrorism targeting our students must stop,” Senator Yahaya declared on the Senate floor, his voice laced with outrage. He recounted a haunting parallel to the 2022 Kebbi abduction, where victims endured four years in captivity before rescue, and implored President Tinubu to deploy “all necessary measures” to secure the region.
The Senate, in unanimous support, adopted the motion, directing the executive to bolster the armed forces immediately to prevent further erosion of public trust in the government’s security apparatus.
The federal government swiftly condemned the attack, with Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, assuring Nigerians in a statement that President Tinubu has mobilized the armed forces and intelligence agencies for a “decisive” operation to rescue the girls unharmed.
“The President has issued a clear mandate to locate, rescue, and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Idris said, emphasizing the administration’s “unwavering commitment” to protecting schoolchildren.
Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, echoed this resolve, ordering troops under Operation FANSAN YANMA to intensify patrols and comb surrounding villages and forests, enlisting helicopters and ground teams in the hunt.
Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris, visibly shaken, visited the devastated community on Monday, meeting with distraught parents, traditional rulers, and security chiefs. He pledged logistical reinforcements—including 100 Hilux vehicles and 5,000 motorcycles—to local forces and urged residents to pray for the safe return of the girls.
“Bandits continue to threaten the safety and future of our children,” the governor lamented, vowing that “justice will be pursued relentlessly.”
The incident has ignited fierce criticism from opposition quarters and civil society. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through spokesperson Ini Ememobong, lambasted the Tinubu administration for “politicizing insecurity” rather than eradicating it, mocking the “Renewed Hope Agenda” as a hollow promise amid a “three-week wave of unchecked violence.” The party highlighted recent abductions in Nasarawa, Plateau, Kano, and Katsina, extending condolences to the victims’ families.
Human rights group Intersociety amplified the outcry, demanding a complete overhaul of the Ministries of Defence and Interior, as well as the Office of the National Security Adviser. In a scathing report, the organization accused the government of failing to curb “Jihadist Fulani Militant” attacks on Christian communities and schools, drawing parallels to a “Sudanese Government-Janjaweed cordial relationship” since 2015. They called on President Tinubu to compel Fulani leaders to rein in the violence and prioritize child safety.
This abduction marks the latest in a string of school-targeted raids, evoking memories of the 2014 Chibok kidnapping and last year’s Kuriga incident in Kaduna, where over 100 students were freed without ransom after months in captivity.
With Nigeria grappling with food shortages exacerbated by farmer displacements and Boko Haram remnants, the Senate’s push for massive recruitment signals a pivotal moment.
