Malam Garba Shehu, a former media aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, has described the kidnapping of schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina State, as the most painful event he had to handle during his time in office.
Speaking during an interview with Trust TV, Shehu, who also served as the spokesperson to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in 2003, recalled how he was given false information by the then-spokesman of the Nigerian Army regarding the number of abducted pupils.
According to him, the army official, whose identity he didn’t reveal, downplayed the seriousness of the situation during a phone call following the December 2020 abduction of students from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara.
Shehu said the official told him that fewer than ten students were taken, even though nearly 300 students were actually missing.
“The entire global attention was on Nigeria, BBC World, everyone was calling. So where are you? What’s happening? So you needed to get the facts before you speak, and for you to approach the person who should know and he picked his phone and said we are on the ground here. I’m with I’m Defence Minister, I’m with Army Chief and don’t believe all these things they are telling me about 280, those they kidnapped were less than 10. That is what the man on the ground right said and I said this to the international broadcast systems,” Shehu recalled.
After realizing the actual number of missing students, Shehu noted that he felt deeply troubled and decided to act on his own. He issued a public apology to the Katsina State government and the parents of the abducted boys — without seeking permission from the Nigerian Army.
“I issued a statement apologising to the government and people of the state and to the parents of all of the children.”
When asked whether the army spokesperson faced any consequences for the misinformation, Shehu said, “I don’t know whether there was.”
