Kidnappers free 16 Nigerian students, staff taken from Greenfield University
A general view of the gate of the Greenfield University in Kaduna, Nigeria, on April 21, 2021.
What you need to know:
- The 13 students and three staff were reunited with their families at a hotel around Command junction in the Chikun local government area of Kaduna metropolis.
Abuja,
After 40 days in the den of their abductors, the remaining 16 students and staff of Greenfield University in Nigeria’s Kaduna State have been released.
Twenty nine of the students were abducted by bandits from their hostels on April 20.
Five of them were killed while some were released after families paid the ransom.
On April 23, the remains of three of abducted students were found in Kwanan Bature village, a location close to the university.
Three days later, the Kaduna government reported that the kidnappers had killed two more students.
The last group was released on Saturday afternoon and dumped at a location along Kaduna- Abuja highway, said Markus Zarmai, chair of a forum of parents of abducted students.
Ransom paid
The 13 students and three staff were reunited with their families at a hotel around Command junction in the Chikun local government area of Kaduna metropolis.
Parents said they paid the ransom and bought eight new motorcycles for the kidnappers.
The bandits had demanded $1.7 million (N800 million) but reports indicated that the families paid $385,000.
The Kaduna state government had insisted it would not be a party to ransom payments to bandits who it declared terrorists and said they should be treated as such.
According to Mr Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, the abductees were found at about 2pm on Saturday.
“They were abducted by armed bandits in April and had been in captivity since then. Five students were gruesomely killed by the bandits in the period.”
Governor Nasir El-Rufai welcomed the news and sent messages of solace and encouragement to the victims of the harrowing ordeal.
“He assured them that the bitterness of the last few weeks, now over, would set the backdrop for positive achievements in their lives, as he wished them well in the future,” Mr Aruwan said.
