Arewa Consultative Forum has condemned the Wednesday abduction of no fewer than 73 students from Government Day Secondary School, Kaya, in the Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State by gunmen.
As of the time the gunmen were attacking the Kaya school, the state governor, Bello Matawalle, was attending a prayer session organised by his administration, where he called on the residents of the state to rise up and fight the bandits back.
In its reaction to the latest incident, the Arewa Consultative Forum expressed sadness over the attack and abduction of the students.
Although residents of the community said 76 students were taken away by the bandits, the state police command, in a statement on Wednesday evening, put the number of the abducted students at 73.
The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mohammed Shehu, said in a statement, “The Zamfara State Police Command wishes to confirm the abduction of 73 students of the Government Day Secondary School, Kaya, in the Maradun LGA.
“The abduction followed the invasion of the school by a large number of bandits today (Wednesday) at exactly 11.22 hours.
“The command, under the leadership of CP Ayuba N. Elkanah, has deployed a search-and-rescue team that was mandated to work in synergy with the military to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted students.
“The CP appealed to the general public, especially parents and relatives of the abducted students, to exercise patience and continue to pray for the success of the ongoing rescue operation. Security has also been beefed up at Kaya village and its environs to forestall further attacks on the communities.
“Further developments will be made known to members of the public.”
