President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday night restated his administration’s resolve to protect the lives and properties of Nigerians.
He gave the assurance after receiving the news of the rescue of the 333 pupils abducted from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
The schoolboys were taken away from the dormitory into the bush by bandits on Friday
The President said his administration would not shy away from its responsibility to Nigerians, especially the families of those being held in any part of the country by either terrorists or bandits
According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President, who spoke from his Daura, Katsina State, home welcomed the release of the kidnapped pupils, describing their safe return as a big relief to their families, the country and international community.
President Buhari expressed the nation’s appreciation for the steps taken by all involved to make their release possible.
He commended the “spirit of partnership and the collaborative efforts of the government of Katsina, Zamfara and military leading to the release.”
He haioled the nation’s intelligence agencies, the military and police for providing the environment for safe release of the hostages.
“The governor, Aminu Bello Masari, and the army worked extremely hard. As soon as I got the information I congratulated them. The Armed Forces know their job. They have been well trained and properly motivated.”
President Buhari urged the citizens to be patient and fair to the administration as it deals with the problems of security, economy and corruption.
He noted that the administration was fully aware that it was elected to resolve challenges.
The statement quoted him as saying: “When we came, we made efforts that yielded the return of the Chibokgirls. When a similar incident of school abduction happened at Dapchi, we successfully returned all but one of the more than one hundred abductees. When this latest incident happened, we put in our efforts and today we have this result to show.”
The President pointed to the successes of the administration in dealing with security in the Southsouth and Northeast.
He said the Northwest now presents a challenge which his administration is determined to deal with.
“We have a lot of work to do, especially now that we have re-opened the borders. It is unfortunate that the bandits and terrorists continue to get weapons even under the circumstances of the border closure. We are going to dare them. We will deal with all that,” the President assured.
He prayed for the full recovery of the pupils, whom he said had endured significant hardships in the course of their six-day ordeal.
The President assured of the determination of his administration to return to safety all citizens being held against their will.
