Kidnappers of Kaduna Teachers, Students Increases Ransom To N80m

The kidnappers of six female students and two staff of Engravers College, Kakau Daji, Chikun local government area of Kaduna state, have increased the ransom demanded to N80 million.

The bandits, who had earlier demanded a ransom of N50 million are not insisting that all the captives must pay N10 million each to regain freedom, according to TheCable

The girls, alongside the vice principal of the school and the matron, were kidnapped around 12:10 am on Thursday.

In an interview on Sunday, an official of the school who is involved in the bargain for the victims’ freedom, said the kidnappers discarded the initial arrangement after listening to reports of the kidnapping on the radio.

“They (kidnappers) called individual parents and asked them to pay N10 million each. They said they don’t want collective bargain again, every parent should pay N10 million for the release of their children,” the official said.

“They told us that they heard the story on the BBC. They called me and they were insulting me. They said they don’t want a collective bargain again. They said every parent should pay N10 million.

“They insulted me because they thought I was negotiating for the ransom on behalf of the government. I told them that when such incidents happen, newspapers and radio stations always report it for the world to know.

“They asked me whether I am a lawyer, I told them that I am a teacher. They asked whether I am the proprietor of the school. I told them that I am not the owner of the school. Then asked me to remove my hands off the issue and face my business.

“They asked me whether I can recall some expatriates were kidnapped sometimes ago. They said they were the ones who abducted them and that it was the government that paid the ransom.

“I pleaded with them to have mercy on the parents of the children because they don’t have that kind of money.”

Yakubu Sabo, the spokesman for the Kaduna police command, could not be reached for comments as his mobile phone as was switched off.

On Friday, Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, had said efforts were in place to secure the release of the victims.