Ndume Urges FG to Recover Missing Brigadier General, Rescue Abducted Kebbi Schoolgirls

Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has called on the federal government and security agencies to intensify efforts to locate Brigadier General Musa Uba, commander of the 25 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, who was reportedly abducted by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters.

In a statement on Thursday, Ndume also demanded urgent action to rescue 25 schoolgirls abducted on Sunday from the Government Girls Comprehensive School, Maga, in Danko-Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

Brigadier General Uba was ambushed and captured during a convoy operation near Wajiroko village, Borno State, on Friday. ISWAP released an unverified video on Monday claiming that the officer and other soldiers had been executed. However, the Nigerian Army initially denied the report.

President Bola Tinubu, in a statement on Wednesday, later confirmed the general’s death, describing him as one of the “brave soldiers who fell in Borno.”

Ndume, a former chairman of the Senate Committee on the Army, highlighted the worsening insecurity in the north-west and north-east, marked by banditry, kidnappings, and terrorism, and stressed the need for coordinated intervention. He urged that efforts be intensified to recover the brigade commander “dead or alive” and to secure the release of the abducted girls, noting that such actions would help ease the trauma faced by their families and the nation.

He commended the sacrifices of security personnel in ongoing operations and prayed for divine guidance for the federal and state governments in combating terrorism and banditry across the country.

Meanwhile, Valentine Ozigbo, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), called on President Tinubu to take responsibility for the escalating killings and abductions nationwide, warning that the security situation had deteriorated to alarming levels, leaving Nigerians living in fear.