President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State following the abduction of schoolgirls in the area.

Twenty-five students were kidnapped on Monday morning when bandits attacked the school, killing Hassan Yakubu Makuku, a staff member, and injuring a security guard. Two of the abducted girls reportedly escaped the kidnappers on Tuesday, while efforts to rescue the remaining students are ongoing.

In a statement on Thursday, President Tinubu instructed Matawalle to move to Kebbi “to monitor security efforts aimed at securing the release of the abducted students.” The statement also noted that Matawalle has prior experience handling banditry and mass kidnappings from his tenure as governor of Zamfara State. The minister is expected to arrive in Kebbi on Friday.

Earlier, Tinubu postponed his scheduled trips to South Africa and Angola due to the Kebbi school abduction and a separate bandit attack on a church in the Eruku community of Kwara State.

The Kwara incident occurred just 48 hours after the Kebbi attack. Armed assailants stormed the CAC branch at Oke Isegun in Eruku, a border town adjoining Kogi in Ekiti Local Government Area, ransacking the building and stealing worshippers’ belongings. The Kwara police said three persons, including a vigilante, were injured, but the exact number of casualties or abducted individuals has not been confirmed.