Bandits have released 15 out of the remaining students abducted from Bethel Baptist Secondary School, in Kaduna State.
Picture caption: Parents of abducted Bethel Baptist High School students wait for the arrival of some of the students released by their kidnappers, in Kaduna, Nigeria on July 25, 2021. (Reuters)
The students were released by bandits after their parents were reportedly forced to pay an undisclosed ransom to free them.
The State’s Commissioner for Internal security, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the release yesterday, but declined to comment on any ransom payment.
The 15 students are among the 100 students who were kidnapped on July 5 from the school in Kaduna.
The chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN), Rev. John Hayab, told the British Broadcasting Corporation, (BBC), Hausa Service, that the students were released on Saturday night after a ransom was paid.
Earlier on, Hayab had said the abductors were seeking 1 million naira per student.
He, however, said there were still 65 children in the hands of the gunmen, while nearly 53 had escaped. On July 25, 28 of them were released.
Recall that in July, the kidnappers released 28 children from the school following the release of the first group of 28, two days after the raid. Around 80 had remained in captivity before yesterday’s release.
Since December, armed bandits have abducted more than 1,000 students from schools in northwest Nigeria seeking ransom. Due to high levels of threat, Kaduna State schools remain closed,
