Kidnapped Zamfara Students Regain Freedom After 13 Days In Captivity

After 13 days in captivity, the kidnapped students of Government Day Secondary School, Kaya in the Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State were released.

The students were met by Governor Bello Matawalle in Gusau on Sunday after being released by their kidnappers.

Gunmen, believed to be bandits, kidnapped the students from school late on September 1st night.

It’s unclear whether the pupils were released after a ransom was paid.

‘Schools must be safe’

To combat the threat, the Zamfara State government has implemented a number of measures, including the recent shutdown of telecoms services and a ban on the sale of fuel in jerry cans, among others.

The state government of Katsina has also adopted stronger measures, including as prohibiting commercial phone charging points in 18 of the state’s hardest-hit local government units.

Meanwhile, the parents of the abducted students from the Federal Government College in Birnin Yauri, Zamfara State, have expressed their disappointment in the state government’s capacity to achieve their return.

After multiple unfulfilled promises from the state administration since their kidnapping, the abducted students are currently spending 88 days in their abductors’ den.

Armed robbers numbering around 150 are claimed to have stormed the school in broad daylight and kidnapped around 90 children, including both boys and girls, as well as three staff members.

Musa Suleman, the father of one of the abducted students, said he has lost faith in the state and federal governments of Kebbi because they have failed to obtain the return of their children, who have been held captive for more than three months.

“Government made about four to five promises to us for the release of our children but on all occasions, none has been fulfilled. We have lost faith in them.

If not the bandits have stood their ground that they would only negotiate with the government, we are ready to dispose of all our possessions in as much as our children will walk to freedom.

”Wasiu Abdulraheem, whose only child was among those in captivity, said he was ready to go to any extent to secure the release of his daughter, adding he has been having psychological trauma since she was kidnapped.

“Since my daughter was abducted about three months now, it has been a life of psychological torture. I hardly sleep at night. I can  no longer concentrate on my business as I have started becoming so incoherent while dealing with people.

”Contacted, the Special Adviser on Security to the governor, Col. Rabiu Garba Kamba (retd), said the government was on top of the situation as it would not rest on its oars until the kidnapped students regain their freedom.

“Government is not relenting, it is exploiting all possible avenues for ensuring these children are released and reunited with their families.”