Abducted Kaduna Students' Parents Cry For Help, Abductors Issue Fresh Threats

The bandits who abducted 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State have issued a new threat to kill the victims and marry the girls among them, following the refusal of the state government to pay ransom.

The armed group is demanding for N500 million before they could release the students who were abducted on March 12.

Parents of the abducted students on Friday cried out for help, saying that they have been contacted by the bandits, demanding the ransom and proposing to marry the female students among the abductees.

Ten of the students have already been released.

Secretary to the parents’ association, Mr. Friday Sani, pleaded with Nigerians on Friday to come to their aid by raising funds for them to rescue their children.

He added that Kaduna State has not only refused to pay ransom, but has threatened to prosecute any of them who pay ransom to the bandits.

But the parents said they are not afraid of the government’s arrest or prosecution.

He begged Nigerians, non-governmental organizations, charity organizations and donors to “come to our aid in donating to rescue our children.

“We don’t know what is happening to them (abductees). The bandits have threatened to kill our children if we play (sic) with them.

READ ALSO: Father Of Abducted Female College Student Dies Of Heart Attack

“The other time they (bandits) said they will marry the females and kill the men and that a time will come when even if we bring the money, the money will not be useful.

“The government has said any parent who negotiates with the bandits will be prosecuted but most of the parents are already arrested emotionally. Our children today are faced with AK 47 guns on them.

“The fate of our children is what we don’t know. They have spent 36 days without clothing, food, clean drinking water or bathing.

“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 would 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 or sleep while some of us have developed sickness. So there is no arrest higher than this.”

The parents vowed that they would 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 a promising future.

“If we can negotiate for the release of our children and succeed and then be arrested afterwards, we will be the happiest people.

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“It is better for us to be in government’s detention rather than allow our children to die.

“The fate of our children is what we don’t know and that is the problem we have. The government has kept silent since the release of 10 of the children.

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

“We are pleading with the government to ensure our children do not lose their lives during the course of any action they want to use in securing the release of our children.”

The bandits had broken into the college on March 11, 2021 and kidnapped 29 students, makority of them are females.

12 hours after the kidnapping, the kidnappers released a video showing them beating the students and demanding for N500 million ransoms from the government.

All News Nigeria reported that one of the fathers of the students has died of heart attack on hearing the news that his daughter had been kidnapped by the bandits.