Bandits Detain Ransom Courier -Islamiyya Kidnapping Woes Continues

Banditry is a big issue that has sparked unrest in northern Nigeria. The kidnapping of school children by bandits is now a typical occurrence in the north. This appealing act is so rampant, that it is no longer surprising news. Such terrible times we live in as a country. 

Not too long ago, One hundred and fifty-six pupils of Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina, in Rafi local government area of Niger State were abducted. N30 million was sent through a courier for the release of the kidnapped pupils. However, in an unexpected twist of events, the courier was seized by the bandits. According to them, N4.6 million was missing from the ransom. 

It will interest you to note that, before this event, N25 million has reportedly been disbursed as ransom, however, the money was claimed to be paid to a wrong set of bandits. To avoid such errors, this time the courier was Kassimu Tegina through an undisclosed negotiator.

However, the bandits claim that the ransom was short of N4.6 million and therefore refused to release the pupils and added the courier as another hostage. They also increased their demands. 

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One of the parents of the kidnapped pupils told newsmen that; 

“The bandits refused to release the children and also held the man we sent, Kassimu Tegina, with the help of a negotiator. They said the money is less than N4.6m. They insisted we must complete it, and in addition buy six motorcycles.”

In addition, in respect to the situation, another parent told newsmen that; 

“They said as a punishment we must buy six motorcycles and complete the money. We struggled to raise the N30m and we have exhausted our goodwill to raise the N30m. So, we are confused; they (bandits) are playing on our intelligence. We are going through hell in their hands.”

Malam Alhassan Garba Abubakar who is The Head Teacher of the School whose pupils were abducted confirmed to newsmen that an N30 million ransom was paid but both the courier and the abducted children are yet to be returned. Rather;

“They demanded six Honda motorcycles that cost N490,000 each. That means we need another N6 million with the N4.6 million they claimed was short of the N30 million delivered as the latest ransom,” he told newsmen.

The Head Teacher reaffirmed that an initial ransom of N20 million and a N5 million negotiation fee has already been paid but the bandits claimed that the money was paid to the wrong people. Then a new ransom of N30 million was demanded. This new ransom was raised through donations from notable Nigerians and upon paying it, the bandits are once again putting out a new story and more demands. The Head Teachers lamented that they can no longer raise more money. In his words;

“We are tired; we have resigned to God because we cannot raise any other money again.”

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