The bandits who kidnapped over 200 pupils of the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School in Tegina town of Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State are demanding the whopping sum of N110 million as ransom to release the victims.
The bandits who threatened to embark on killing the pupils if their demands are not met by Tuesday midnight reportedly contacted the School Headmaster, Alhaji Abubakar Alhassan, to make their demands known.
“I was baffled when the kidnappers declared to me that the sum of N110m should be paid to secure the release of the pupils and threatened to kill all the children if the money is not paid by the end of today (Tuesday)”, he said.
The Headmaster also said the bandits disclosed that only 150 pupils are in their custody.
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Reacting to the development, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, Mary Noel Berje said that the state government has put in place the necessary machinery to ensure the safe release of the pupils. She, however, ruled out plans to pay ransom to the criminals.
“Government is on the pursuit of the bandits and efforts are being put in place to identify them.
“The number of the kidnapped school children is not fully ascertained, however, efforts by security agencies to secure their release has been intensified.
“We don’t pay ransom to abductors. We are trying to negotiate to see how we can bring them back safely.” She said.
Considering the unwillingness of the state government to pay ransom to the hoodlums, families, and some concerned public interest within the community have embarked on raising money to see how they can meet the set deadline by the bandits to save the children from being killed.
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