Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has commended
the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), for rescuing Dr Ganiyat
Popoola and her nephew.
Alausa also commended the military and other security
agencies for the safe rescue of the kidnapped victims after 10 months in
captivity.
Alausa, who is also the former Minister of State for
Health and Social Development, , gave the commendation when the rescued
victims got reunited with their family by the National Security Adviser (NSA),
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. on Friday in Abuja.
He thanked President Bola Tinubu for his commitment to
the safety and security of all citizens, as well as the NSA for facilitating
the release of Dr Popoola without ransom.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu has invested
so much resources in making the country safe.
“As we can see, security is significantly better all
across the country but we are not there yet but it is going to continue to get
better.
“I will also like to thank the entire armed forces for
working so hard to secure the release of Dr. Popoola.
“More importantly, the NSA, who continuously reassures
us that Dr. Popoola is alive in spite of being in captivity for about 10
months,” he said.
Alausa said that Popoola and her nephew have been
released without any bad occurrences.
“This shows the skills of our armed forces, they did
this without paying ransom and they secured the release of Popoola and
her nephew.
“The country Nigeria is forever grateful to them,” he
said.
The minister also thanked the Nigerian Medical
Association (NMA) and the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) for
their perseverance, trust in the government and persistence in ensuring the
safe release of their colleague.
He urged all Nigerians to join hands with the security
forces to fight insecurity in the country, adding that the challenges should be
seen as Nigeria’s.
On his part, the President of NMA, Dr Bala Audu,
described the rescue of Popoola along with her nephew as a miraculous outcome
that all Nigerian doctors and indeed all Nigerians were happy with.
Audu acknowledged the specific efforts and persistence
of all Nigerian doctors through NARD and the persistence of the Minister of
Health in reaching out to the ONSA.
Also, the President of NARD, Dr Tope Osundare,
expressed appreciation to President Tinubu for the support and concern for all
the doctors all over the country.
Osundare said the collaborative efforts of the
government agencies and institutions in synergy with NMA, ensured the release
of Dr Popoola.
“We were emotionally traumatised as a body, we had our
meetings, we had our protests and we had the reassurance.
“That is why our thanks go to the President and the
NSA for all that they have done to ensure the release of Dr Poppola out of
captivity.
“Today we are celebrating and we are happy that she is
out of this captivity because I can imagine what she has gone through within
that period of over 10 months.
“Today we want to appreciate God and appreciate
everyone that has been involved,” he said.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had earlier in the day
confirmed the rescue of Popoola and other victims through non-kinetic
operations in a series of operations with other security agencies.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen.
Edward Buba, in a statement, said that the details of their release had
remained classified due to ongoing operations.
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