Kidnappers Of Kaduna Students Demand N500m Ransom

Kidnappers of the 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State have contacted the parents to demand the payment of N500m as a ransom for the release of their children.

The spokesperson for the affected parents, Friday Sani made this known on Friday while addressing newsmen in Kaduna State.

The parents also accused the Kaduna State government led by Nasir El-Rufai of failing to do enough to secure the rescue of the students while abandoning the parents to their fate.

It will be recalled that the kidnappers who struck on the 11th of March have released 10 of the abducted students in two batches of 5 each but have kept the remaining 29 in custody.

They have now demanded N500m ransom for their release according to the parents.

In the words of the spokesman, “The condition we are in today is very pathetic, and we are calling on the entire world to come to our aid. We held a protest and the Kaduna State Government called us, thinking they were going to give us hope that they will rescue our children. But they told us that anybody caught negotiating with bandits will be prosecuted.

“That also led to our second coming out to address the world through the media that it will be better for us to be arrested, even though we have already been arrested emotionally since our children’s abduction.

“We are already under the arrest of the government. Some of us could not eat and sleep while some of us have developed sickness, so there is no arrest higher than this.

“We will continue to protest, no matter the number of security forces. The highest is death and we are ready to sacrifice that for our children who have promising futures,” he said.

“If we can negotiate for the release of our children and succeed and then being arrested afterwards, we will be the happiest people. It is better for us to be in the government’s detention rather than allow our children to die.

“They have demanded about N500 million as a condition for the release of our children, we can’t just keep quiet.

“The government may turn Kaduna into Dubai but if there are no people to benefit from it, then it is a waste of resources. People are not secure; the stories of daily incidents of killings, kidnappings and other forms of crime are disheartening”.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has confirmed that troops have successfully killed several top Boko Haram/ISWAP commanders during recent operations.

The Director Army Public Relations, Mohammed Yerima who confirmed the development in a statement on Friday noted that the terrorists met their deaths through well-coordinated ground and air bombardments by the troops within the last one week.

The Army spokesman explained that the killing of the Boko Haram commanders and their fighters took place in different operations, in different locations by the troops last week.