• Terrorists, not bandits, kidnapped Kaduna pupils, says DHQ
• Troops neutralise 213, arrest 216 in one week
• Gumi insists FG should dialogue with bandits
Abductors of over 286 students and staff in Kaduna State have demanded N1 billion ($620,432) for their release. According to Reuters, a community leader, Jubril Aminu, who acts as a spokesman for the families of the hostages, said he received a phone call from the kidnappers on Tuesday.
He said: “They demanded N1 billion ransom for all the pupils and staff of the school. They gave us 20 days ultimatum, from the date of the kidnap, to pay. They said they will kill all the students and the staff if the ransom demand is not met.” An official of Kuriga Ward Municipal Council, Idris Ibrahim, also confirmed the ransom demand.
Yes, the kidnappers called the community through Aminu’s number and made the demand. They called from a hidden number, but the authorities are working on getting the number.”
Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna, Samuel Aruwan, did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the kidnappers’ demands.
BUT Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has stated that kidnappers of school children in Kaduna are terrorists and not bandits. Spokesman of Defence Media Operations (DMO), Maj-Gen Edward Buba, during the bi-weekly briefing, yesterday, noted that the military were not promptly informed when the Borno and Kaduna kidnapping occurred. He vowed that the Nigerian Armed forces would rescue them unhurt.
“The aim of the military’s ongoing counter-insurgency war is the enduring defeat of terrorist groups across the country and the dismantling of their military capabilities, such that they can no longer terrorise or hurt citizens. Accordingly, the armed forces remain focused on achieving this aim.
“As in every war, there are complexities and ours is no exception. Recently, cases of citizens being abducted in Northern theatres of operation were recorded. These citizens were abducted by a brutal and blood-thirsty group that should only be addressed as terrorists, and not bandits. I repeat, these are terrorists and not bandits,” he insisted.
Buba disclosed that troops neutralised 213 terrorists and arrested 216 in one week. AGAIN, Northern Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has admonished the Federal Government to take the issue of dialoguing with the bandits seriously, saying the country is already at war.
According to Gumi, the present rate of terrorism where bandits are now abducting almost all students’ population in villages, ransacking communities and kidnapping innocent Nigerians for huge ransom calls for the concern of the Federal Government.
In a chat with The Guardian, yesterday, he said it is time the President Bola Tinubu administration braced up to the current challenges of insecurity and dialogue with the terrorists to end the crisis in the country, insisting that he (Gumi) is offering himself to interface with the bandits.
“Nobody has reached out to me yet on my suggestion to negotiate with the bandits for the release of all Nigerians that have been kidnapped. It is just a suggestion from me. If the government is ready, I am ready to do it. I have done it in the past and I am ready to do it again. It is a religious duty for me to do so,” he said.
According to Gumi, the bandits are already at war with the country, and the only solution to the menace is dialogue.
