Bandits release 15 high school students after parents pay ransom in northwest Nigeria
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The 15 students are among the 100 students who were kidnapped on July 5 from the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna
In northwest Nigeria, 15 high school students were released by bandits after their parents were forced to pay an undisclosed ransom to free them, officials said on Sunday.
The 15 students are among the 100 students who were kidnapped on July 5 from the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna.
Kaduna state`s commissioner for internal security, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the release but declined to comment on the ransom payment.
“The students are already being released and would be handed over to their parents any moment from now,” School administrator Reverend John Hayab told Reuters.
Earlier, Hayab said the abductors were seeking 1 million naira (Rs 1.8 lakh approx) per student.
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 Sunday’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, reports Reuters.
President Muhammadu Buhari in February called on state governments to stop paying bandits. But desperate parents and communities often raise and pay ransoms themselves.