PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced postponement of his scheduled trips to South Africa and Angola on Wednesday to receive further security briefings following the abduction of 24 schoolgirls in Kebbi State and a deadly bandit attack on worshippers at the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State.

This was revealed in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga on Wednesday, November 18.

Onanuga said Tinubu had ordered the deployment of more security men to Eruku and the entire Ekiti Local Government Area of the state.

The president also directed the police to go after the bandits who attacked worshippers in response to the request by the state Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

“President Tinubu was scheduled to leave Abuja today to attend the 20th G20 Summit of leaders in South Africa and thereafter proceed to Luanda to attend the 7th AU-EU Summit.

Disturbed by the security breaches in Kebbi State and Tuesday’s attack by bandits against worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, President Tinubu decided to suspend his departure,” Onanuga wrote.

He said Tinubu was waiting for reports from the Vice President Kashim Shettima, who paid a sympathy visit to Kebbi State on his behalf, as well as reports from the police and the Department of State Services regarding the attack in Kwara.

“President Tinubu reiterates his directive to the security agencies to do everything possible to rescue the 24 schoolgirls, abducted by the bandits and bring the girls back home, safe,” he added.

The ICIR reported on November 17 that the Chairman of Danko Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, Hussaini Bena, confirmed to The ICIR that armed men attacked the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in the early hours of Monday, November 17.

Bena said the gunmen invaded the school at about 4 a.m., shooting repeatedly before escaping with a yet-to-be-confirmed number of students.

Similarly, on November 18, two people were confirmed dead and an unspecified number of residents abducted after terrorists attacked Eruku town, Ekiti Local Government Area, Kwara State.

The Kwara State Police Command in a statement on Tuesday, November 18, said the attack left two men fatally shot and several others missing.

According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, a superintendent of police, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Eruku and his team, working alongside local vigilantes, swiftly mobilised after hearing gunshots from the outskirts of the town.

Nanji Nandang Venley

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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.