The government of Niger State claims to have apprehended some of the bandits who kidnapped kids from the Salihu Tanko Islamiyyan School in Tegina, in the state’s Rafi Local Government Area.
According to SaharaReporters, gunmen raided the town’s police station on Sunday, shooting intermittently into the air to intimidate people before breaking into a private school and abducting over 100 pupils attending Islamic lectures.
In the evenings and on weekends, the school, which has infant and primary sections, also hosts Islamiyya pupils.
Isma’il Moddibo, the local government chairperson, hails from Tegina. It is in the same local government region as Kagara, where bandits abducted a number of students earlier this year but later released them after a deal with the state government.
Alhaji Ahmed Ketso, the state’s deputy governor, said on Tuesday:
“some of the bandits are in our custody.”
Ketso, who did not specify the number of bandits apprehended, also stated that security personnel were already on the lookout for the other criminals in order to rescue the youngsters.
The deputy governor, on the other hand, ruled out paying any ransom and promised that the kidnapped children will be freed in the same manner as the Kagara Science College boys.
“We don’t pay ransom to abductors. We are trying to negotiate to see how we can bring them back safely.
But first of all, we are trying to get in touch with the parents of those abducted because some of them came from other states to acquire the Islamic education. The government does not know their parents or where they came from.
We are still taking the census of the children to know the exact number that were actually abducted. Nevertheless, the government will do everything possible to ensure their safe rescue,” he said.
