Sheikh Gumi reacts to Zamfara schoolgirls abduction

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said the bandits he met with recently in Zamfara state are not the abductors of the schoolgirls in Government Secondary School, Jangebe.

Some bandits had in the early hours of Friday, February 26, stormed the girls-only school and abducted many students.

The state's commissioner of security and home affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, has confirmed the development but could not ascertain the number of the students abducted yet.

However, reacting to the development, Sheikh Gumi said the abduction was carried out by a splinter group of the Zamfara bandits, The Nation reported.

The Islamic scholar reiterated that the bandits he recently met were not the ones that abducted the girls, saying "it is a splinter group” that is responsible for the abduction.

The Zamfara schoolgirls abduction comes as Nigerians impatiently await the release of some schoolboys kidnapped at Government Science College, Kagara, Niger state.

Meanwhile, the governor of Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello, has assured Nigerians that the abducted students and others in Kagara would soon be rescued.

Governor Bello made the disclosure on Thursday, February 25, in Minna, the state capital.

The Niger state governor, however, said that the federal government is expected to give more support in an effort to rescue the victims.