The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa and some governors from Northern states are currently in a closed-door meeting, Daily Trust has learnt.
Although, the agenda of the meeting was not officially disclosed, it was reliably gathered that the discussion centred on strategic plans on how to rescue the internally displaced persons, schoolchildren and Tsangaya students recently abducted by terrorists in Borno, Kaduna and Sokoto states respectively.
The meeting, which started at about 2:10pm was coming on the heels of a marching order given by President Bola Tinubu to the security forces to rescue the children unhurt without paying a dime as ransom.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had conveyed the president’s message on Wednesday that the federal government would not pay any money as ransom to the terrorists who had earlier demanded N40trn.
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A highly-placed official within the security agencies confided in our correspondent that the meeting had Governors Uba Sani (Kaduna), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Radda Dikko (Katsina), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa) among others in attendance.
Daily Trust had reported how terrorists abducted 287 students from a primary and secondary school in Kuriga, Kaduna State on March 7, while 112 IDPs in Gamboru Ngala, Borno were also abducted by terrorists.
The abduction of 15 Quranic school students in Sokoto state followed the Kuriga incident — the development several bodies had condemned.