According to former presidential spokesperson Malam Garba Shehu, the most upsetting event he experienced while serving under former President Muhammadu Buhari was the kidnapping of more than 200 students from Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State, in December 2020.
Speaking about the event that garnered international attention, Shehu remembers confirming the scope of the kidnapping by phoning a senior Nigerian Army official.
He claims that the unidentified official minimized the severity by informing Shehu that only “less than 10” kids were kidnapped. This is untrue, since around 300 pupils were later found to be missing.
Shehu reportedly revealed the information in an interview with Daily Trust, describing how he was mislead by military officials at the time, resulting in a significant misunderstanding with the international media.
“Everyone was calling, and Nigeria and BBC World had all the attention in the world. Therefore, you had to gather information before speaking,” Shehu clarified.
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“Don’t believe all these things they’re telling you about 280,” the man on the ground said. They abducted people under the age of ten. I reiterated that to global broadcasting networks.
Even though the military never explained the mistake, Shehu said that after the outcry, he took the initiative to apologize to the parents of the kidnapped students and the Katsina State Government.
“I apologized in a statement to the state’s government, citizens, and all of the children’s parents,” he stated.
Shehu said, “I don’t know whether there was [any consequence]” in response to a question about whether the army officer who had deceived him had suffered any consequences.
Shehu also disclosed another case of being deceived, this time in relation to the Boko Haram fighters’ murder of more than fifty farmers in Borno State.
He claimed, “Someone was putting a spin on it, misleading me as presidential spokesperson,” but he would not say who was to blame.
The kidnapping at the Kankara school was recalled to have taken place barely hours after then-President Buhari’s private visit to Katsina.
The event was widely denounced and raised questions about how the government was managing insecurity in the country’s north.
Negotiations led to the students’ eventual release, but the incident is still regarded as one of the most troubling periods in Nigeria’s recent security history.
