Relocate to Kebbi, Tinubu Orders Matawalle, After Abduction of 24 Schoolgirls

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle, to immediately relocate to Kebbi State following the abduction of 24 students of Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in the early hours of Monday.

According to a statement issued on Thursday, November 20, 2025, by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Matawalle is to remain in Kebbi to coordinate and monitor security operations aimed at rescuing the abducted schoolgirls.

The gunmen reportedly stormed the school around 4 a.m. and whisked away the students, prompting intensified security actions across the state.

Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, is expected to arrive in Birnin Kebbi on Friday.

He is believed to bring relevant experience to the situation, having dealt with several incidents of mass abductions during his tenure as governor from 2019 to 2023. One of the most notable incidents occurred on 26 February 2021, when armed bandits abducted 279 female students from Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe. The students were released on 2 March 2021.

The statement added that President Tinubu has postponed his scheduled trips to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, as he awaits comprehensive security briefings on the Kebbi abductions and the attack on worshippers at Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State.