Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has postponed his scheduled trip to this weekend’s Group of 20 summit.
Tinubu said that he was suspending his departure in light of the abduction of 24 schoolgirls by gunmen earlier this week in a northwestern region of the country and a separate church attack in which gunmen killed two people.
Tinubu was scheduled to leave Abuja today to attend the 20th G20 Summit of leaders in South Africa and thereafter proceed to Luanda to attend the 7th AU-EU Summit. “Disturbed by the security breaches in Kebbi State and Monday’s attack by bandits against worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, President Tinubu decided to suspend his departure,” Spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a statement.
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.
Hawau Usman, a 15-year-old student who was among those abducted, had managed to escape.
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. However, bandits are also active in the region, and Analysts say gangs often target schools to gain attention.
Also, no group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday night’s attack where gunmen attacked a church and killed two people in Eruku town in central Nigeria. Kwara state Police Spokesperson Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi said in a statement that police responded to gunfire and found one person fatally shot inside the church and another nearby.
Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in a statement today praised Nigerian President Bola Tinubu for the deployment of 900 additional troops there.
Nigeria has been recently thrust into spotlight when US President Donald Trump singled the country out, saying Christians are being persecuted — an allegation that the government rejected. The country faces Trump administration threats of USmilitary intervention over the allegations.
Civil society leaders have accused security forces of inaction. 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.
Tinubu Awaits Further Security Briefings
Meanwhile, the statement noted that the Nigerian President awaits further security briefings on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on Christ Apostolic Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.
He awaits reports from Vice President Kashim Shettima, who paid a sympathy visit to Kebbi on his behalf, as well as reports from the police and the Department of State Services regarding the attack in Kwara.
The statement disclosed that in response to the request by the Governor of Kwara State, President Tinubu has ordered the deployment of more security men to Eruku and the entire Ekiti Local Government Area of the state, and directed the police to go after the bandits who attacked worshippers.
It added that Tinubu “reiterates his directive to the security agencies to do everything possible to rescue the 24 schoolgirls, abducted by the bandits and bring the girls back home, safe.”
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