Hundreds of Nigerian girls abducted last week have appeared in new uniforms on Tuesday, raising concerns over the level of cordiality between the state government and perpetrators.

The girls who were abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara, appeared at the state Government House on Friday for the first time after their abduction wearing newly-sown hijabs.

The abduction, which is the latest in the series of mass kidnappings by suspected bandits in the northern part of Nigeria, came hours after President Buhari said at a joint security meeting of Northern States Governors’ Forum and traditional rulers that his government would deal with bandits, generating controversies on whether the abduction was staged as a form of protest. 

News of the release of the students was widely circulated in the media on Sunday, with the girls reported to have regained freedom and were at the palace of the Emir of Anka, waiting to be transported to Gusau, the state capital.

The Zamfara State Government, however, refused to confirm the release. Suleiman Tunau, Commissioner for Information and Culture, said the news of the release was fake news and that government was doing its best to rescue the girls.

The appearance of the victims in sparkling uniforms in the early hours of Tuesday, therefore, raises questions on the level of cordiality between government and the perpetrators, and whether the initial release on Sunday was contained to discredit the media.

Nigerians on the social media have also expressed concerns over how the abductees came about the new clothes.

“And their clothes were ready just right and there!!! Hopeless situation,” a Tweeter user, Babatunde Vaughan, said.

And their clothes were ready just right then and there!!!
Hopeless situation

— Babátúndé Vaughan (@The_BraveBeing) March 2, 2021