BY SALIU SALIU
PARENTS of the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, in Kaduna State, said, on Friday, that the abductors had demanded N500 million ransom.
The distraught parents said the kidnappers had been calling them individually to demand the ransom, which amounted to N500million.
They called on the whole world to come to their rescue, claiming that they had lost hope in government’s intervention in the efforts to secure the release of their children.
Recall that 10 of the abducted students were recently rescued by operatives and reunited with their respective families, while the remaining are still being held in captivity.
The parents of the kidnapped students disclosed the latest development at a press conference in Kaduna, on Friday.
Spokesperson for the parents, Friday Sani, said, “The condition we are in today is very pathetic, and we are calling on the entire world to come to our aid. We held a protest and the Kaduna State Government called us, thinking they were going to give us hope that they will rescue our children. But they told us that anybody caught negotiating with bandits would be prosecuted.
“That also led to our second coming out to address the world through the media that it would be better for us to be arrested, even though we have already been arrested emotionally since our children’s abduction.”
He added, “We are already under the arrest of Government. Some of us could not eat and sleep while some of us have developed sickness, so there is no arrest higher than this.
“We will continue to protest, no matter the number of security forces. The highest is death and we are ready to sacrifice that for our children who have promising futures.
“If we can negotiate for the release of our children and succeed and then arrested afterwards, we will be the happiest people. It is better for us to be in government’s detention rather than allow our children to die.”
The parents lamented that they did not know the fate of their children, adding that the Government had kept silent after the release of 10 of them.
They said, “May be it is because we are no longer talking and pleaded with not to address the media and protest on the street. The government has remained quiet about our abducted children. We wouldn’t mind if the government takes credit for the release of the 10 students. Be it as it may, we want them to enable the release of others so that we can applaud them the more.
“The government may turn Kaduna into Dubai but if there are no people to benefit from it, then it is a waste of resources. People are not secured, the stories of daily incidents of killings, kidnappings and other forms of crime is disheartening.”
“We are pleading with the Government to ensure our children do not lose their lives during the course of any action they want to use in securing the release of our children,” the parents said.
