Terrorists who abducted 15 Qur’anic students in Sokoto State have reached out to their families, demanding a ransom of N20,000,000 for their release.
Liman Abubakar, the school’s proprietor, confirmed this on Tuesday, March 12.
The students were taken during a raid on Gidan Bakuso village in the Gada Local Government area on Saturday, March 10.
Abubakar stated that the terrorists contacted him directly, asking for the specified sum in exchange for the students’ freedom.
He said, “They (the bandits) called me this morning around 11 am and directed me to meet our village head and tell him to raise N20 million for the children.
“I went and discussed the matter with the village head but we are yet to conclude.”
ASP Ahmed Rufai, the State Police Public Relations Officer, stated that the command is currently engaged in efforts to secure the release of the students.
“We are still searching the surrounding villages and forest to get the exact location of where the kids are being held.
“We are on it and hopefully we will get them rescued,” he added.
Despite the reported threats of crackdowns on bandits and terrorists involved in the abduction of schoolchildren, the terrorists appear undeterred.
It may be recalled that the 15 pupils from an Islamiya school were kidnapped in the early hours of Saturday, following the abduction of 287 schoolchildren in Kaduna on Thursday, and over 200 Internally Displaced Persons were also kidnapped from their camp in Borno state on Wednesday.
However, in response to these incidents, President Bola Tinubu has directed security agents to promptly secure the rescue of all abducted individuals.
