Vice President Kashim Shettima touched down in Kebbi State on Wednesday on a special assignment from President Bola Tinubu to engage with state authorities and families of schoolgirls kidnapped by armed bandits from Government Girls Secondary School in Maga.
The Vice President’s aircraft landed at Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Birnin Kebbi, where he was received by senior state government officials in what marks the highest-level federal response to the abduction that has shocked the nation.
Shettima was accompanied on the mission by the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Zubaida Umar, along with other senior government aides, underscoring the seriousness with which the Tinubu administration is treating the security breach.
The visit comes on the direct orders of President Tinubu, who specifically mandated his deputy to personally assess the situation on the ground and provide reassurance to traumatized families whose daughters were forcibly taken from their school dormitories.
According to information from the Presidency, the Vice President’s mission includes delivering President Tinubu’s message of solidarity to the people of Kebbi State while gathering a comprehensive briefing on the incident and ongoing rescue operations for transmission to the Commander-in-Chief.
President Tinubu had previously issued a strong condemnation of the attack, characterizing it as a heartbreaking assault on innocent children. The President expressed his condolences to affected families and emphasized that rescuing the abducted girls must be treated as an urgent priority requiring all necessary resources.
The Sunday attack that prompted the high-level visit resulted in the death of the school’s Vice Principal, Malam Hassan Makuku, who according to reports was killed while courageously attempting to prevent the armed gunmen from abducting the students.
His death has added to the tragedy, leaving the school community and broader Kebbi society mourning a dedicated educator who paid the ultimate price trying to protect young girls under his care.
The Kebbi State Police Command has confirmed that a combined tactical team comprising various security agencies has been deployed to conduct extensive search operations in forests surrounding the attack location, intensifying efforts to locate and safely recover the kidnapped students.
Shettima’s presence in Kebbi represents the most visible demonstration yet of federal government engagement with the crisis, which has drawn comparisons to previous mass school abductions that have traumatized Nigerian communities and attracted international condemnation.
The Vice President is expected to meet with Governor Nasir Idris and other state officials to receive detailed briefings on security arrangements, the circumstances surrounding the breach, and measures being implemented to prevent similar attacks on educational institutions.
Crucially, Shettima will also engage directly with families of the abducted girls, conveying the President’s assurances that the government is doing everything possible to secure their daughters’ safe return while providing whatever support the families need during this difficult period.
The visit comes as security forces race against time to track the bandits and recover the students before they are moved deeper into remote hideouts or dispersed to multiple locations, which would significantly complicate rescue operations.
Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu had earlier visited Kebbi to personally direct military operations, ordering troops to maintain round-the-clock pressure on the criminals and leave no stone unturned in the search for the abducted schoolgirls.
The federal government’s multi-pronged response—combining high-level political engagement through the Vice President’s visit with intensified military operations on the ground—signals recognition that the Maga abduction represents a critical test of the administration’s ability to protect vulnerable citizens, particularly schoolchildren in bandit-prone areas.
As Shettima conducts his assessment and meets with stakeholders, anxious parents and community members await concrete assurances that their daughters will be recovered unharmed and that meaningful steps will be taken to prevent the recurrence of such traumatic incidents in Kebbi and other vulnerable states.
The outcome of the Vice President’s mission and the information he conveys back to President Tinubu will likely influence the government’s next steps in addressing both the immediate crisis and the broader security challenges that continue to threaten educational institutions across Nigeria’s northwest region.
