BREAKING: No Update On Abducted Kagara Schoolboys – Niger Gov

Contrary to reports that the over 42 schoolboys and workers abducted from the Government Science College Kagara, Niger State, had been released, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has said there is “no update” on the kidnapped persons.

Governor Bello disclosed this during a televised press briefing monitored by THE WHISTLER on Friday.

The governor highlighted that the non-existence of infrastructures especially in the schools and lack of fencing makes it easy for bandits to attack learning institutions in the state.

“To give guarantees on the state government, what we need to do is to secure our schools which we are already doing, most of the schools are not fenced, so it is easy for them to just walk in, if there was a fence, it would have been more difficult.

“So, we want on the stateside, we can put up measures that will make it harder for bandits to access schools. We still have a lot of schools that are not fenced. They have never been fenced, we met them that way. We have started the process but it is a slow and expensive process,” he said.

Bello said the inability of governors to control the police was also affecting their ability to address insecurity in their respective states.

“I am a state governor and I am confined to maximum vigilantes under my control, yes I have the police, I have the military. They respect me, but I don’t have total control over them. For example, if I have a commissioner of police, I can’t change him, or a brigade commander, I cannot change him. They are not under me”

Bello added that if there were enough presence of policemen in states across the country, such abductions couldn’t have been possible

“…they are being overstressed, they are trying their best, the commissioner of police is there every day… How many men do they have under their control to police 76,000 square meters?

“Some local governments have less than 40 policemen, in some towns, you see one, in many towns you see zero. And that is why we have to strengthen and improve the local vigilante system.”

Moving forward, the governor said the state would be working more with local vigilantes and traditional rulers to find a solution to insecurity in the state.

Speaking further, he noted that there should be a partnership between the Federal Government and the state governments to protect and monitor the borders.

“We must have some form of monitoring system to monitor people that enter our country or move between borders in our state. Our border is so porous. Where did you think these arms are coming from? Through our borders.

“And to monitor our borders, for a country like Nigeria, you need equipment, you need special aircraft 24/7, you need drones, you cannot do it manually.

“I think the state government and the Federal government should come together, get the expert and decide what is needed to protect our borders,” he said.

When asked the location of the abductors and their victims, Bello responded: “I did not tell you I have the locations of the bandits because I am not in the forest.”