Kebbi State Governor, Nasir Idris, has demanded answers from military authorities over the withdrawal of troops from Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, less than an hour before dozens of schoolgirls were abducted in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area.
Idris raised the concern on Thursday while receiving the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, who led a solidarity delegation to the Government House.
The governor said he was “deeply troubled” by reports that soldiers left their post around 3 a.m., despite earlier intelligence alerts provided by the state government about a possible attack. The assailants struck roughly 45 minutes after the withdrawal.
“We provided intelligence reports. We alerted them. So, who gave the order for troops to withdraw at that critical hour?” Idris asked, calling for a full military investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
He added that the withdrawal contradicted prior assurances from security agencies that protection would be strengthened around schools in high-risk border communities repeatedly targeted by armed groups.
Ajaero commiserated with the state and the families of the kidnapped students, urging security agencies to ensure the safe rescue of the girls. He described the abduction as a setback in the national effort to protect schools from violent attacks.
The incident, which has generated nationwide outrage, is the latest in a string of mass abductions targeting schools in Nigeria’s North-West, despite repeated government pledges to secure learning environments.
