This was contained in a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special
Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday.

Matawalle, who was formerly governor of Zamfara State, was
asked to remain in the state to monitor security efforts to secure the release
of the abducted students.

Gunmen abducted 24 students of Government Girls
Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga town, Kebbi State, around 4am on Monday.

Matawalle, who is expected to arrive in Birni-Kebbi on
Friday, gained some experience in dealing with banditry and mass kidnapping
during his tenure as governor of Zamfara State from 2019 to 2023.

On 26 February 2021, armed bandits abducted 279 female
students aged between 10 and 17 at the Government Girls Science Secondary
School, a boarding school in Jangebe, in Zamfara State. The bandits released
all the hostages on 2 March 2021.

President Tinubu had postponed his scheduled trip to
Johannesburg, South Africa, and Luanda, Angola, as he awaited further security
briefings on the kidnapped Kebbi schoolgirls and the attack on Christ Apostolic
Church worshippers in Eruku, Kwara State.