Ahmad Gumi, a prominent Islamic
cleric, says the abduction of schoolgirls in Zamfara was not carried out by
bandits he met with recently.
On Friday, some gunmen had
invaded the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Talata-Mafara local
government area of the state, and abducted schoolgirls.
The police command in Zamfara
said 317 students were abducted, adding that a joint search-and-rescue
operation is already underway with a view to bringing back the girls.
According to The Nation, Gumi,
who is known to have access to bandits, said the attack was carried out by
another group.
“They are not the ones that
abducted the girls. It is a splinter group,” Gumi reportedly said.
When the Islamic cleric was asked
if he would be willing to meet with the bandits to secure the release of the
students, he reportedly answered “maybe”.
On February 17, armed bandits
attacked Government Science College, Kagara, in Rafi local government area of
Niger state, where they abducted 41 persons who were mostly students and staff
members of the school.
A day after the attack, Gumi met
some bandits in a forest in Niger, and later said the bandits denied knowledge
of the abduction, while he pushed for them to be granted amnesty.
The Kagara students are yet to be
released
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