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.
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.
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.
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.
