SOKOTO, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's president postponed his trip to this weekend's Group of 20 summit after promising to intensify efforts to rescue 24 schoolgirls who were abducted by gunmen earlier this week in a northwestern region of the country. Civil society leaders have accused security forces of inaction.
President Bola Tinubu had been set to leave for South Africa on Wednesday, days before the summit of the world's leading rich and developing
nations was due to begin. But Tinubu said that he was suspending his departure in light of the abductions and a separate church attack in which gunmen killed two people, spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a statement.
“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" to the G20 summit, Onanuga said.
It wasn't immediately clear if or when Tinubu would leave for the summit, which runs Saturday and Sunday in Johannesburg.
The girls were kidnapped from their dormitory before dawn on Monday, when gunmen attacked their boarding school, the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, in the town of Maga in Nigeria's Kebbi state.
Local police said that the gunmen scaled the fence to enter the dorm and exchanged gunfire with police officers guarding the school before seizing the girls and killing a staff member.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but analysts and locals say gangs often target schools, travelers and remote villagers in kidnappings for ransom. Authorities say the gunmen are mostly former herders who have taken up arms against farming communities after clashes between them over strained resources.
Dan Juma Umar, a civil society leader in Maga, said that it wasn’t the first time that gunmen attacked the area and that residents had alerted security force members about “suspicious movements” three days before the attack on the school.
“We notified the security operatives of the planned attack. Had they acted on the information we provided, this tragedy could have been avoided,” he told The Associated Press.
Hawau Usman, a 15-year-old student who was among those abducted, had managed to escape.
“They kept moving, and when they left, I ran back to the school," Usman told the AP on Tuesday.
"I knocked on the principal’s house, but no one answered,” she said, adding that she later found refuge at a teacher’s house.
Tinubu said in a statement released late Tuesday that he has "directed the security agencies to act swiftly and bring the girls back to Kebbi State.” He expressed regret that the “heartless terrorists have disrupted the education of innocent schoolgirls.”
At least 1,500 students have been abducted in the region since Boko Haram jihadi extremists seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago. But bandits are also active in the region, and analysts say gangs often target schools to gain attention.
Nigeria has been recently thrust into spotlight when U.S. President Donald Trump singled the country out, saying Christians are being persecuted — an allegation that the government rejected.
Analysts and residents blame the insecurity on a failure to prosecute known attackers, and the rampant corruption that limits weapons supplies to security forces while ensuring a steady supply to the gangs.
Usman Muhammad, whose daughter narrowly escaped the abduction, said his trust in authorities will only be restored if all the remaining girls are rescued. He urged not only for the abducted students to be freed but also for strengthening the security around the school to prevent future attacks.
“Until the authorities in charge secure the release of the girls still in captivity, we cannot feel at ease,” Muhammad, 50, told the AP on Tuesday.
Senator Iroegbu, an Abuja-based security analyst, told the AP on Wednesday that the abductors ultimately dictate the terms, but said that he was hopeful the girls would be rescued.
“Intelligence efforts should be prioritized to locate the abductors without endangering the girls. If contact is established, negotiation — likely involving ransom — may be necessary,” he said.
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu met with soldiers in the hours after the attack and directed “intelligence-driven operations and relentless day-and-night pursuit of the abductors,” according to an army statement.
“We must find these children. Act decisively and professionally on all intelligence," he said. "Success is not optional.”
The army chief urged for a collaborative effort by all security outfits, including local vigilantes and hunters, in getting the girls rescued.
Umar Muhammad Rafi, 60, said the military and vigilante groups have been deployed to Maga and the surrounding forests but that the number of vigilantes, who "know the terrain better than the military” are not enough.
___
Dyepkazah Shibayan reported from Abuja.
