The Chairman of Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, Hussaini Aliyu, has dismissed a claim by U.S. lawmaker Riley Moore suggesting that the students abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, Maga, were taken from a Christian community.
In a statement, Aliyu said the comment was misleading, stressing that all the abducted schoolgirls are Muslims. He described the claim as capable of creating unnecessary religious tension at a time when both the federal and state governments are intensifying efforts to secure the girls’ release.
The chairman noted that the Zuru Emirate where Maga community is located has a long record of peaceful coexistence and has never experienced religious conflict. He urged the U.S. lawmaker to avoid making unverified remarks that cast Nigeria in a bad light or threaten national unity.
He also released the names of the 25 abducted students as follows:
Senior Secondary School 2A
1. Fatima Sani Zimri
2. Hafsat Ibrahim
3. Nana Firdausi Jibril
4. Masauda Yakubu Romo
Senior Secondary School 2B
5. Hauwa Saleh
6. Hauwa’u Umar Imam
Senior Secondary School 3A & 3B
7. Salima Garba Umar
8. Salima Sani Zimri
9. Amina G. Umar
10. Rashida Muhammad Dingu
11. Saliha Umar
12. Aisha Usman
13. Jamila Iliyasu
14. Maryam Illiyasu
15. Najaatu Abdullahi
16. Zainab Kolo
Junior Secondary School 3A
17. Surraya Tukur
18. Hafsat Umar Yalmo
19. Maryam Usman
20. Amina Illiyasu
21. Ikilima Suleman
Junior Secondary School
22. Khadija Nazifi
23. Hauwa’u Iliyasu
24. Hauwa’u Lawali
25. Ummu Kulsum Abdulkarim
