LESS than 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu has ruled out the payment of ransom to the abductors of over 287 schoolchildren in Kuriga village of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, the bandits have reportedly demanded a ransom of N1 billion from the victims’ families.
On Wednesday, President Tinubu through the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, ruled out the possibility of paying a ransom to rescue victims of kidnappings in the country.
He directed the security agencies to do the needful to rescue the children including the Tsangaya students of Sokoto and the IDPs in Borno State.
This newspaper gathered that in a daring move, the bandits had called to ask for the ransom which they claimed should be paid within the next 20 days.
One of the community youth leaders, Aminu Kuriga, who confirmed the phone call, told this newspaper that the people were very worried.
“They (bandits) claimed they are somewhere around northern part of Zamfara with the children and that we should pay the N1bn before the next 20 days.
“They got my number through the abducted School Principal, Abubakar Isah, who happens to be my childhood friend. We pray for God’s intervention on this issue,” he said.
This newspaper reported how the gunmen invaded the school last Thursday morning shortly after the Assembly session and abducted the pupils and some staff members of the school.
The state Governor, Uba Sani, visited the community hours after the abduction and assured the parents that the government would ensure all their children returned unharmed.
But days after the incident, there was no report of any child being rescued in the community, and the bandits were even sighted at the entrance of the community five days after the school abduction.
The Kaduna State Government has not reacted to the ransom demand.
The Overseeing Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, could not be reached on the phone and had not acknowledged the WhatsApp message sent to him.
