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We will never go back to school, Freed Katsina schoolboys vow while narrating experience

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We will never go back to school, Freed Katsina schoolboys vow while narrating experience

Some of the 344 students of Government Science Secondary School in Kankara local government area of Katsina State who regained freedom on Thursday from their abductors, have vowed never to return to school until adequate security measures are put in place by the state government.

The students who spoke when the state Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, received them at the State House on their return to the state on Friday, begged the governor and security agencies to make sure the security of their school and other schools in the state are upgraded.

The students were driven to the Government House from Tsafe in Zamfara State where the bandits had taken them, in a convoy escorted by the 17 Brigade Commander, Brig-General WB Idris and other top security operatives.

While handing over the students to Governor Masari, Brig-Gen. Idris said the schoolboys were rescued by the combined team of security operatives in the state.

“We are here this morning (Friday) to formally hand over the 344 students of Government Science Secondary, Kankara, that were rescued from the bandits yesterday night (Thursday),” he said.

One of the freed students, Yusuf Suleiman, lamented the lack of adequate security in the school, saying that was responsible for their abduction by the bandits.

“We really suffered in the hand of the bandits and for me, I will not return to the school again because it has no security and it is located at the outskirt of Kankara town,” the SSS1 student said.

Another student, Abdulmajid Umar, also called on the state government to, as a matter of urgency, relocate the all-boys school to Kankara town to avoid a recurrence of the incident.

Read also: Education under threat in northern Nigeria, Amnesty Int’l reacts to abduction of Katsina schoolboys

Umar said:

“It will be difficult for us to return to the school. Most of us have agreed not to go back to the school again. We will seek for transfer to other schools within Katsina metropolis.”

While responding, Masari said the boys would be taken to the hospital for examination to ascertain their health status before they will be reunited with their parents.

He assured the students and their parents that his administration would continue to give ultimate attention to security of lives and property of the citizenry, adding that security is everyone’s responsibility.

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