Kagara: FG, Niger Government In Talks With Kidnappers

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration and the Niger State government are currently in talks with the bandits who abducted students and staff of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State via third party mode.  

AllNews had reported that some unknown armed bandits in army fatigue raided the school in the early hours of Wednesday and left with some students, staff and their families.

The Governor of the State, Abubakar Sani Bello who addressed the pressmen said 27 students, three staff and 12 members of their families were abducted out of the total population of the students revealed to be 1,000. 

However, one of the students, Benjamin Doma, was gunned down while trying to escape. The abductors reportedly left him behind in the pool of his blood as they shepherded the students and teachers to the bush.

Reaching out to the kidnappers, The FG and State government went through two prominent repentant bandits from Katsina and Zamfara States to help reach out to the kidnappers.

They said, “Already some breakthroughs are being made. We were able to establish that the abductors were Fulani boys from one of the camps in Kaduna forests, bordering Niger to the south and Zamfara to the north. We have made contacts already,” one of the sources said.

“But the major snag now is getting them to agree easily because in Kaduna there is no trust between the bandits and the government. But persons with the reach are working on creating an avenue to sit with leaders of the abductors, the elders who can force them into acceding to the request.”

It could be recalled that the fresh attack on Niger school is coming less than three months after the kidnapping of over 300 students at Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in nearby Katsina State.

READ ALSO: Kagara Abduction: IPOB's Special Counsel Disagrees With Nigerian Minister of Defence, Magashi’s ‘Coward’ Statement

The students were released a few days after amidst allegations that ransom was paid, a claim that was denied by the federal and Katsina State governments.

This online news platform had reports that the names of the students and staffs of the Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State abducted in the early hour of Wednesday has been released.

Meanwhile, a senior security official said air patrol has been intensified along the borders between Kaduna and Niger State.

“There is vast forest traversing Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger States, which makes movement along the corridor very easy for the bandits operating in those states,” he said.