President Bola Tinubu has condemned the “heinous incidents of abduction involving very vulnerable victims, internally displaced persons in Borno State, and students in Kaduna State,” presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale wrote in a statement.
NewsCentral TV reported the abduction of scores of pupils from a public school in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna on Thursday.
In Borno, the victims were persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in the state.
The president directs security and intelligence agencies to immediately rescue the victims and ensure that justice is served against the perpetrators of these abominable acts, Mr Ngelale wrote.
“I have received briefing from security chiefs on the two incidents, and I am confident that the victims will be rescued. Nothing else is acceptable to me and the waiting family members of these abducted citizens. Justice will be decisively administered,” President Tinubu was quoted as saying.
The president sympathized with the families of the victims and assured them that they would soon be reunited with their loved ones, his office said.
Kidnapping for ransom has become rampant in many parts of Nigeria. The criminal acts are carried out by different, often unrelated armed groups operating in Africa’s largest country.