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President Muhammadu Buhari has described the latest abduction of
hundreds of students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in Zamfara
State as inhumane and totally unacceptable, sending out a strong warning to
bandits and their sponsors.
Reacting to the incident on Friday, President Buhari said that
"this administration will not succumb to blackmail by bandits who target
innocent school students in the expectations of huge ransom payments."
According to the President, "no criminal group can be too strong to
be defeated by the government," adding that, "the only thing standing
between our security forces and the bandits are the rules of engagement."
"We have the capacity to deploy massive force against the bandits
in the villages where they operate, but our limitation is the fear of heavy
casualties of innocent villagers and hostages who might be used as human
shields by the bandits," he said, stressing that “our primary
objective is to get the hostages safe, alive and unharmed.”
President Buhari noted that "a hostage crisis is a complex
situation that requires maximum patience in order to protect the victims from
physical harm or even brutal death at the hands of their captors."
He warned the bandits: "Let them not entertain any illusions that
they are more powerful than the government. They shouldn't mistake our
restraint for the humanitarian goals of protecting innocent lives as a weakness
or a sign of fear or irresolution."
The President appealed to state governments "to review their policy
of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might
boomerang disastrously."
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