By Suleiman Umaru
Usman Kankara Bello, popular, UK. Bello, a retired Customs Comptroller and , Kanwa Katsina, home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, and the district head of Ketare, one of the districts in Kankara local government ment aea opf the state has given kudos to Aminu Masari bello, a former Speaker , House of Representatives and the state governor for the rescue of the 344 abducted students Government science secondary school, GSSS, Kakaara.
The Monarch had congratulated the governor, at Government House, Katsina, on Friday , December 18, 2020, shortly after the appreciative governor received the kankara students who had regained their Freedom on Thursday, December 17, 2020, alongside the military and ohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, for their role in the resolution of the crisis.
The Monarch who was said to be in deep shock when the news broke out the abduction of the 344 sKankara students may have taken the bold initiative to caution parents not to take the laws into their hand to search for their children as the military Authorities and the police are on top of the matter. This is because of the tight security mounted in al nooks and corners of Kankara and the state general that it would be very difficult for the Bandits to carry out their mission of crossing the border to Niger to make their difficult financial demands.
With the rescue of the students, the revered district head of Ketare has called on Nigerians to be more prayerful for lasting peace in Kankara, Katsina and the country in general for the insecurity challenge to be resolved once and for all. He is very happy at the steps been taken by the Katsina state born Nigerian President to ensure that the security agencies deliver on their mandate of better service delivery that would guarantee adequate protection of lives and properties.
Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state and National Leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC, who many believe have been silent in the recent may have taken advantage of the rescue of the 344 abducted Kankara students to give encomiums to Buhari, the Nigerian President and Masari, the Katsina state governor, over their prompt intervention in facilitating the rescue of the Kankara students.
An elated Tinubu, described as the godfather of south west politics, had said that ‘’the quick release of the Kankaraboys from the Bandits had vindicated the Nigerian President in his untiring efforts to resolve the ountry the country insecurity challenge and the back of the Islamic Fundamentalists, BokoHaram, Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP and the Bandits terrorising, particular, the north west states of Zamfara, Kaduna and Katsina states.
The APC, National Leader, who could not hide his feelings said the initial abduction of the over 300 Kankara boys from their school hostel in broad daylight was unsettling which had raised serious concerns but was very happy that the rescue of the students from the abductors ‘’is hear –warming’’.
This may have informed why he declared: I congratulate and commend Buhari, the Nigerian President for his prompt and decisive intervention to save the Kankara students. He was said to have also Ccommended Masari and the armed forces as well as the police for bringing the boys back home.
The European Union, Human Rights Forum, EUHRF, which have been the BokoKaram, IWAP and Bandits attack in the north over the years, may have seen the rescue of the 344 Kankara boys as a great feat that it has commended the Nigerian President, over the swiftness deployed in the safe return of the students .
Joseph Cullen, the Special Rapporteur, Lake Chad/West Africa, on Sunday, December 20, 2020, had issued a Statement , described the rescue of the 344 Kankara students as a ‘’deserving relief to see that everything ended without bloodshed’’. He noted that such swiftness could have made the difference had such occurred in 2014 when Chibok school girls, in Borno state, north east Nigeria were kidnapped during the Administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Cullen, who could not hide his feelings stressed that ‘’it is commendable that critical time was not lost in returning the rescued Kankara students to the their families by the state government. The EUHRF, Lake Chad/West Africa Special Rapporteur has every reason to speak out because the abduction of the 344 Kankara boys had sent shockwaves across the international Community because of the similarities it shared with the kidnap of the 276 Chibok gilrs in April 14, 2014.
The EUHRF Special Rapporteur has enjoined the Nigerian President to put measures in place to ensure that the Kankara incident did not repeat itself again the state or any part of the country, particular, in the north, where BokoHaram insurgents and the Bandits are operating. From their hideouts in the forest.
Many believe that the abduction of 344 students in Katsina, the Nigerian President home state was a clear cut indication that the security situation of the country have deteriorated badly. Usman Bugaje, a Political Historian, who could not hide his feelings had said that the Buhari led APC, government had made some gains in tackling insecurity in the country in 2016, within his first one year in office but ‘’failed to Consolidate on the improvements made’’. According to him, the government may have failed to sustain the measures put in I place to improve the security situation of the country because it has ‘’no particular governance framework’’.
He asserted that the Nigeria President should have known that his government has deviated from track if they were evaluating their performance and making necessary inputs but this was not the case. ‘’The government was only out to criticize the Jonathan government without prioritizing competence’’, critics said.
Perhaps, what may have turned out to be a dent on the six year APC government in Nigeria would have been if the attempted kidnap of 39 students, mostly Islamiyya students in Machuta village, of Dandume local government area of Katsina state had succeded. The attempted kidnap on the Islamyya students were said to have been made on Saturday, December 19, 2020, barelu three days, after the 344 Kankara students were abducted by the Bandits were released from the forest where they were hidden. The courageous Troopps of Operation Hadarin Daji and the policemen deployed to the local government may have saved the situation by rescuing the school children.
Femi Adesina, Special Assistant to the Nigerian President , on Media and Publicity , may have known that Nigerians are no longer with the APC government over resolving of the security challenge of the country that he has urged he people to be patient , insisting that the Buhari Administration are equal to the challenge to tackle the challenges.
The question on the lips of most people is: why has Katsina, the Nigerian President home state become the target of the Bandits to kidnap students? It is not surprising why there have been pressures on the President and Commander -In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces to sack Gabriel Olonisakin, an Army General and Chief of Defence Staff, Tuhur Buratai, a Lt.General and Chief of Army staff, CAS, Sadique Abubakar, an Air Marshall and Chief of Air Staff, CAS and Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, a Vice Admiral and Chief of Naval Staffthe service Chiefs and inject fresh hands who have have brighter ideas on how to handle the country security challenge to take by the may not have been in a hurry to do so. Even the APC dominated National Assembly that the President must sack the service chiefs have not helped matters, an indication that there must be something holding the him and the service chiefs which the public are not privy to.
