The Defence Headquarters has claimed that troops rescued the over 300 pupils of Government Science Secondary, Kankara, Katsina State.
The DHQ spokesman, Maj. Gen. John Enenche, in a statement on Friday, said the military kept its promise to ensure the rescue of the hostages.
The PUNCH reported that Enenche’s claims, however, contradicted the statement by Katsina State Governor, Masari, that the pupils were released following negotiations with the bandits by the leadership of MACBAN.
The DHQ in its statement on Friday, titled, ‘Troops of Operation Hadarin Daji rescue abducted students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina,’ said, “Keeping to its promise to ensure the safe return of all abducted students of Government Science Secondary School Kankara, Katsina State, troops of Operation Hadarin Daji rescued all 344 abducted students on Thursday 17 December 2020.
“The students were rescued on the heels of credible intelligence by our gallant troops, with high degree of professionalism to ensure they were all rescued alive.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force said it provided persistent air presence to ensure the safety of the pupils. NAF highlighted its roles in a series of tweets on Friday.
NAF said its air presence also denied the abductors freedom of action.
NAF tweeted, “344 boys abducted from GSSS Kankara, Katsina State on 11 December 2020 were safely returned to the Katsina State Government House this morning, escorted by a combined team of personnel from various security agencies with air cover provided by @NigAirForce.
“From the time of the incident, @NigAirForce deployed additional ISR and other air assets to provide persistent surveillance over areas of interest in Katsina and Zamfara states, whilst maintaining offensive air presence to deny the abductors freedom of action.
“Medical personnel were also part of the Team that provided immediate medical care to the boys after their release from the forest. Additional @NigAirForce Special Forces personnel were equally deployed to provide support.”
