The total number of students being held by bandits has increased to 348 with the latest abduction of 121 students in Kaduna State.
Out of the 348 students, three categories numbering 227 are still languishing in bandits’ dens, many weeks after they were abducted from their schools in Niger, Kebbi and Kaduna states.
The situation worsened on Monday when the hoodlums stormed the Bethel Baptist High School, Maraban Rido in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and abducted 121 students.
Amidst increasing attacks on schools, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) stated that parents might no longer prioritise education of children and youths in the affected areas.
The Proprietor of the Bethel Baptist High School, who is also the President, Kaduna Baptist Conference, Rev. Ishaya Jangado, in an interview with journalists on Tuesday, said the bandits had called the school management and said they were holding 121 students.
In Niger State, 136 pupils of Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina, who were abducted on May 30, had yet to be released as some parents told one of our correspondents that they could not raise N100m being demanded by the bandits.
In Kebbi State, 83 students and seven staff members of the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri are still in bandits’ captivity, 19 days after the hoodlums abducted 94 students and eight workers from the school.
Eight of the students and one teacher were rescued by troops of the Nigerian Army a few days after the abduction. However, three students were reported to have died during separate rescue operations.
But hoodlums, who abducted eight students and two workers of the Kaduna State-owned Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic, Zaria on June 10, had not released them.
On Tuesday, the mother of a Senior Secondary School 3 student, who was among those abducted at the FGC Kebbi, in an interview, described her experience as traumatic.
The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated, “The trauma of my innocent son in kidnappers’ den with no contact could only be imagined until my phone rang from an unfamiliar number on Tuesday last week. I picked the call with trepidation, surprisingly, I heard the voice of my son. He told me he was speaking with me from an unknown location under the watch of the kidnappers and with their phone.
“I told him to give the phone to the kidnappers, for me to plead with them for their release but he told me the kidnappers said they did not want to have any discussion with any parents because their grouse was with government. He said they were not demanding ransom but only wanted the government to release four of their leaders in custody of the government.
“I did not have the luxury of further discussion with him beyond this before the call was terminated. Since then, I have resorted to prayers that with government intervention, the students and staff shall return safely.”
Asked what the Kebbi State Government was doing towards rescuing the kidnapped students, an aide to the state Governor, Atiku Bagudu, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the condition of anonymity, said, “We are looking up to the Federal Government that holds the aces in security matters.
“We are all at the mercy of the Federal Government, which controls security outfits. The latest we heard was that security operatives were closing in on the kidnappers, to rescue the students.
“You know that a state governor has limitations in directing all the federal security agencies because they are responsible to their heads and not the state governor. All we can do is to assist them with logistics, when and where necessary especially when they approach us.”
It was gathered that abductors of Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic students were demanding a collective ransom of N22.5m for the two lecturers and eight students.
It was learnt that the kidnappers reached out to the families and the management of the Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic for each of the students and lecturers to pay N2.5m. – Punch.
