President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended his planned foreign trips to prioritize national security concerns, postponing attendance at the 20th G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the 7th AU-EU Summit in Luanda, Angola.
The decision comes in the wake of the abduction of 24 schoolgirls in Kebbi State and a deadly bandit attack on worshippers at the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, which claimed lives on Monday.A statement issued on Wednesday by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to the president, said Tinubu took the decision after receiving a request from AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, governor of Kwara, for increased security deployment to the troubled area.
Onanuga said the president ordered the dispatch of additional security personnel to Eruku and the entire Ekiti LGA, with a directive to the police to track down the attackers who invaded the Christ Apostolic Church on Monday.Tinubu had been scheduled to depart Abuja today for Johannesburg to attend the 20th G20 Summit of leaders before proceeding to Luanda for the 7th AU-EU Summit.
Onanuga added that Tinubu reaffirmed his instruction to the security agencies to “do everything possible” to rescue the 24 schoolgirls abducted in Kebbi and ensure their safe return home.
On Tuesday evening, worshippers were abducted when bandits attacked the CAC branch at Oke Isegun in Eruku, a boundary town with Kogi in Ekiti LGA of Kwara state.More than five armed bandits stormed the building, ransacked the church, and carted away the worshippers’ belongings.The Kwara police command said three persons, including a vigilante, were injured but did not confirm the number of abducted or killed.Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, police spokesperson in Kwara, said operatives, in collaboration with vigilantes, responded to what she called “an attempted bandit attack in Eruku”.She said the bandits fled into the bush following the intervention of police and vigilantes.
The attack comes less than 48 hours after bandits raided Government Girls Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi state, abducting 25 schoolgirls, although two of the girls later escaped from custody.Recall that the President had, in his reaction to the recent terrorist attacks and abduction of schoolgirls, said:“As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I am depressed with the tragic death of our soldiers and officers on active duty. May God comfort the families of Brigadier General Musa Uba and other fallen heroes.“I am also depressed that heartless terrorists have disrupted the education of innocent schoolgirls. I have directed the security agencies to act swiftly and bring the girls back to Kebbi State.”
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