The governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, on Saturday vowed to lead the rescue operation of teachers and students abducted from the Federal Government College, FGC Birnin Yauri, in Ngaski Local Government Area of the state.
Mr Bagudu, who is also chairman, Progressives Governors’ Forum, spoke when local hunters visited him.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, and his Jigawa State counterpart, Badaru Abubakar, also paid a solidarity and sympathy visit on Mr Bagudu.
Mr Bagudu assured that some other governors and stakeholders will join him in the ongoing search operations for the abducted students and staff of the school.
According to him, he will discuss with his colleagues and security agencies in this direction, so as not to jeopardise the ongoing commendable operations to rescue the abducted students and staff.
He said: “But, we will go out there and like I promised, the day we will move out, I will not be in the office because we will join you in the field.”
The Kebbi State governor said that this would be done barring all consequences in a bid to rescue the abductees.
Mr Bagudu argued that: “It is not weapons that win wars, but it is the will that bad people cannot triumph and we will show that, we have enough willpower .
“President Muhammadu Buhari and the security agencies have been doing the best they could with limited resources.
“But we also need to mobilize, kit ourselves and take on these bandits. Our various scriptures as Muslims and Christians allow us to put our lives at risk in defence of our honour, property and our faiths.
Mr Bagudu asked the hunters to go back and fully mobilise, pending when he gets the necessary clearance from the security agencies, adding, “we will meet in the field.”
The governor maintained that governors were not sworn in only to sit down in the office and work.
He stated that they are aware that one day they would be required to lead in the field, even though they are not military or police personnel.
He said that if hundreds of thousands of people can be mobilised during campaigns, same should be done now to join the search party.
He said: “What happened in Birnin Yauri should be the last straw. We should follow these bandits wherever they are and take them on.”
Mr Bagudu also described the abduction as very callous, even as he lauded the security agencies, management of the school, ‘Yan Sakai and vigilantes for their heroic efforts since the bandits struck at the college.
Commiserating with Mr Bagudu, the Ekiti State Governor, Fayemi said he was in the state as representative of Nigerian governors in solidarity with the Government and people of the Kebbi State to also commiserate over the unfortunate incident of banditry attack at FGC Birnin Yauri.