The Vice President, Kashim Shettima has met with security agencies and stakeholders in Kaduna State aimed at rescuing the recently abducted over 200 school children in Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area.
Shettima who paid the visit to Kaduna on Saturday on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ordered security agencies to leave no stone unturned in ensuring the immediate rescue of the kidnapped children and their teachers.
The Vice President's spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha made this known in a statement on Saturday.
According to Nkwocha, those present during the meeting included the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, heads of security agencies, traditional rulers and some parents of the victims from the community.
While assuring that the President remains committed to tackling the security challenges in the country, he said all hands must be on deck to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted children and their teachers.
He said, "I am here at the behest of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to empathise, to solidarize with the government and people of Kaduna over the sad incident of the kidnapping of our school kids.
"The President was 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.
"He (President) is in regular contact with the governor of Kaduna State. Today, so far, he has spoken with the governor four times; he has spoken with me three times about the rescue of the kids.
"But as rightly captured by His Excellency, discretion is better. I will align with His Excellency and appeal to our friends in the media. You are all stakeholders in the Nigeria project; let us be very selective in our choice of reporting for the interest of our kids who are not currently with us.
"Once again, on behalf of my principal, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, please, accept our heartfelt sympathy over the travails that have befallen our people. Be rest assured that the President is equal to the tasks. The very essence of the existence of government is to secure the lives and property of the citizenry.
"He has tasked the entire security architecture in the country to go all out and get back our kids safely."
Meanwhile, Governor Sani who spoke earlier appreciated the Vice President for the visit and President Tinubu for showing concern and putting efforts to rescue the victims.
He said: "I would like to thank His Excellency, the Vice President, for visiting us here in Kaduna this evening to commiserate with the people and Government of Kaduna over the unfortunate incident that happened in the community of Chikun local government of the state.
"I am happy that since the incident happened President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, as well as the security agencies in the country, have been working closely with Kaduna State government to ensure the safe return of the children.
"Here in Kaduna, we have been working with the community as well as the leadership of Chikun local government to ensure that we collaborate with the relevant security agencies to ensure that all the children return home safely.
"At this juncture, I would like to caution the media to be very careful in the way they make their own reports because, at this critical time, we have to avoid politicizing this very unfortunate incident.
"What is important to us is the safe return of the children, and of course, we cannot allow anybody to jeopardize the safety of the children that were kidnapped."
0 Comment(s)
SPONSORED
HEADLINE
TRENDING