Vice President Kashim Shettima yesterday said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is personally pained over the abduction of over 287 school children at Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
He said the president has instructed the security agencies to leave no stone unturned until the children are returned to their parents.
The VP made the comment when he paid a sympathy visit to the state governor, Senator Uba Sani at the government house.
Shettima also held a closed door meeting with the Kuriga community leaders, parents of the kidnapped children, security chiefs and state government officials.
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He pointed out that the very essence of the existence of government was to secure the lives and property of the citizens.
He said, “I am here on the behest of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to emphasise with the government and people of Kaduna State over the sad incident of this kidnapping of our school kids.
“The President is personally pained by what happened and he has instructed the security agencies to leave no stone unturned until we return our kids to their parents. The president has spoken with the Governor of Kaduna State four times; he has spoken with me three times about how far with the rescue of the kids.
“As rightly captured by His Excellency the governor, the situation is pathetic. I will align with His Excellency and impress on our friends in the media, we are all stakeholders in the Nigeria project, therefore, we should be more circumspect, let us be more selective in our choice of reporting on the interest of our kids that are not currently with us. I want to commend you and solicit for your continuous support,” he said.
In his remarks, Governor Uba Sani expressed appreciation to the vice president over his visit and also expressed optimism about the progress of the rescue effort of the abducted school children.
He cautioned the media to be careful in their reportage to avoid risking the lives of the kids in captivity.
“We have been working with the community as well as the leadership of Chikun Local government to ensure that we collaborate with relevant security agencies to ensure all the children return back home safely.
“At this juncture, I would like to caution the media to be very careful with the way they make their report because at this critical time, we have to avoid politicising this very unfortunate incident”, he said.
He said what is important to them was the safe return of the children and emphasised that Kaduna State government cannot allow anyone to jeopardise the safety of the Children who were kidnapped
