The bandits who are behind the abduction of 287 school children at Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State have demanded a ₦1billion as ransom to set their captives free.
In the event that the ransom was not paid in 20 days, they also threatened to kill the victims.
However, the military promised to return the schoolchildren to their parents unharmed, stating that because of its officers’ and men’s clearance operations, bandits now abduct large numbers of people in order to use their victims as human shields.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that on Thursday, March 7, 2024, the bandits invaded the school, shot one of the pupils and escaped into the bush with over 200 others, including some secondary school students they marched into the primary school premises.
The bandit’s demand for ransom came barely 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu warned against payment of ransom to criminal elements, including bandits.
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“The President has directed that security agencies must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that these children and all those who have been kidnapped are brought back in safety and also in the process, to ensure that not a dime is paid as ransom,” the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Muhammed Idris, had quoted the President as saying after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting.
According to Reuters, the bandits contacted a spokesman for the families of the school children, demanding a total of 1 billion naira ($620,432) for their release.
Reuters also said the kidnappers vowed to kill the students and staff in 20 days, if their demand was not met.
A leader of the community, Jubril Aminu, who acts as spokesman for the families of the hostages, said: “They (kidnappers) made a total of a N1 billion ransom demand for all the pupils, students and staff of the school.
“They gave a request to pay the ransom within 20 days, effective from the date of the kidnap. They said they will kill all the students and the staff if the ransom demand is not met.”
Idris Ibrahim, an elected official from Kuriga Ward municipal council, who also confirmed the ransom demand and the amount, said: “Yes, the kidnappers called the community through Jubril Aminu’s number and made the demand.
“They called from a hidden number but the authorities are working on getting the number.’’
He added that the security forces were taking “adequate measures” to secure the release of the students.
Military vows to rescue school children
Meanwhile, the military vowed yesterday to rescue the schoolchildren and return them unhurt to their families.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, who made the vow at a briefing in Abuja yesterday, said the military is committed to rescuing all kidnapped victims unhurt.
He, however, blamed the school owners for failing to report cases of abduction to security agencies on time, while also blaming the recent kidnapping of some internally displaced persons in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno State, on their disobedience to instructions as they left the camp in search of firewood without informing camp officials.