THE Kebbi State Government has faulted Senator Garba Maidoki’s recent remarks on insecurity and development projects, calling them “baseless” and “a deliberate distortion of facts.”
A statement released on Sunday by Abdullahi Idris, Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy to Governor Nasir Idris, said Maidoki’s comments were aimed at undermining ongoing security efforts in the wake of the abduction of students from Government Girls Secondary School, Maga, in Sakaba Local Government Area.
Maidoki, the Senator representing Kebbi South, has frequently criticised the government’s handling of security and infrastructure, leading to recurring political clashes with the APC-led government.
His latest comments dwelled on displacement figures and governance when he appeared on Channels TV’s Politics Today on November 19 has triggered the latest backlash.
“I won my election by promising to ensure our people are secure and once we got to the senate, I engaged key stakeholders to ensure that we fulfilled our promises. Prior to that, there were more than two hundred villages that were completely occupied by bandits , these bandits are economic terrorists who purely create chaos for financial gain and our efforts have been beneficial with all our villages being recovered. But there are sudden attacks mostly from Zamfara State. This is one of those attacks,” Maidoki said.
The government in its latest statement accused Maidoki of repeatedly opposing “socially and economically viable projects,” alleging he had not attended any security or stakeholder consultations organised for representatives of affected communities.
It also claimed the senator was engaged in political alliances aimed at undermining the APC-led administration.
Idris faulted the senator’s assertion that 200 communities had been displaced by banditry. He said, “Government records show about 50 affected communities along the Wasagu–Sakaba axis were successfully returned home through coordinated operations by security agencies deployed on the request of Governor Nasir Idris.”
He insisted that the deployment of military personnel and the planning of field operations are centrally coordinated by the Defence Headquarters, “With the governor fully carried along and providing the required logistics.”
The statement outlined the administration’s security interventions, including the provision of more than 100 Hilux, 5,000 motorcycles and the hosting of high-level security conferences attended by traditional rulers, military chiefs and academics.
The government also noted that reconstruction of the long-abandoned federal Koko–Zuru road was underway under the Idris administration, insisting the senator was fully aware of the ongoing work.
“We are not surprised by his posture in view of his alleged alliance with ADC governorship aspirant Abubakar Malami,” the statement read, adding that both politicians resorted to “media campaigns and political declarations.
“At a time federal and state authorities were intensifying efforts to rescue the abducted schoolgirls, including the visit of Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawall”.
Kebbi State continues to grapple with security challenges, especially in the Zuru Emirate, where numerous communities have endured recurrent attacks.
The recent abduction of schoolgirls in Maga has heightened public pressure on both state and federal authorities to step up their response.
The ICIR reported that Before dawn on November 17, 2025, armed men breached the fence of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, killed the vice principal, and abducted 25 schoolgirls a chilling echo of the Chibok, Dapchi, and other mass kidnappings of young girls in Nigeria.
A teacher was killed while trying to protect girls during the attack and a security guard later died in hospital from gunshot wounds.
An official of Danko Wasagu council, Hussaini Aliyu, told the BBC on November 19 that two girls among the 25 students managed to escape, explaining that the girls ran away across farmland as their armed captors were leading them into the bushes.
Aliyu added that though one of the girls needed medical treatment because she hurt her leg while running in the bushes, the girls were “back and are safe.”
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.