Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga has accused Rev. Dr. Bulus Yohanna, the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Niger State, of withholding critical information that could help authorities establish how many students were taken during Friday’s attack on St. Mary’s Private Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area, Okay News reports.
Speaking during an appearance on Arise News’ Prime Time, Onanuga claimed that Yohanna was “playing games” with the incident, alleging that his actions have hindered efforts to determine the actual number of abducted students.
Onanuga dismissed earlier claims by the CAN chairman that 51 abducted students had been rescued, insisting that those students were never in captivity.
“I learnt when the bandits came in the night, the students were running helter skelter and some of them merely ran back to their homes,” he said.
According to him, neither the state government nor security agencies have a confirmed list of missing students, a situation he attributes to a lack of cooperation from school and religious authorities.
“As at the moment, the authorities are in the dark as to how many people are really missing,” Onanuga said. “The Niger State Governor asked for the list of students that are missing, up till now, I don’t know what kind of game the CAN chairman in Niger is playing. They are not collaborating with the government, I don’t know why they are doing that. Even the security men don’t know why they are not releasing the names.”
He further alleged that Yohanna had instructed the school principal not to engage with security operatives investigating the attack.
“The CAN chairman of Niger actually told the principal of that school not to talk to security people,” Onanuga said.
