By: Staff Reporter
ABUJA – Scores of schoolchildren who were abducted at gunpoint at a school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State have been freed and handed over to their families.
The students were released after their parents paid a ransom of $140,000 (70 million nairas) and gave motorbikes in ransom to the kidnappers, according to the school headmaster Abubakar Alhassan. While addressing journalists after the children regained freedom, Alhassan said the money was raised after Nigerians from different sectors contributed funds to secure their freedom.
“The government contributed, individuals have contributed, the imams, pastors have also contributed. Even I received a call from TB Joshua, he is a Christian, but he contributed,” Alhassan said.
However, a spokeswoman for the Niger State government, Mary Noel-Berje, said authorities were not part of negotiations with the kidnappers.
“The parents (of the abducted students) negotiated with the kidnappers — knowing that the government was not ready to be part of the ransom (negotiations),” Mary Noel-Berje said.
Around 136 students of Salihu Tanko Islamic School Regina were taken at gunpoint in May,
The Niger State government, however, clarified in a statement Friday that a “total of 91 children and two passers-by were kidnapped out of which 92 regained their freedom but unfortunately lost one of the children.”
The statement added that the released students looked “feeble and malnourished,” and some will “require more medical attention” before being reunited with their families.
