Catholic Bishop Condemns Govt Slow Response In Rescuing Kidnapped School Children

Chairman of the Niger State Chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna
has accused the government of not doing enough to rescue the more than 250 school children who were abducted in a Catholic boarding school by bandits in the state.
Account to him, since the unfortunate incident took place, the government has not reacted proactively towards ensuring that the students were rescued from their abductors.

“I’m not aware of any effort made by government beyond collecting the names of the students from us,” he said.
He disputed allegations made by the governor of Niger state, Umar Bago, in local media that the Church had defied an order to close its school after threats of attacks.

“We did not receive any order at any point,” the bishop added.

However, his accusation was disputed by the state’s Police Commissioner, who accused the school of failing to co-operate with its search and rescue operations.

The State Police Commissioner insisted that a tactical Police team and members of other security agencies were stationed in the community and combing surrounding forest in a bid to rescue the students.

He said the Police headquarters in Agwara town, not far from Papiri, had been made the operational base.