Following the reduction of the ransom by bandits who abducted 136 pupils from the Tanko Salihu Islamiyya School, Tegina, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, parents of the victims have reportedly taken to churches and mosques to beg in order to raise funds.
This development comes about two weeks after the bandits stormed the Islamic school and made away with 136 pupils, some as little as three years old.
Following the abduction, the bandits who demanded N250m as ransom later reduced it to N200m, and finally, N150m.
The state government, however, insists that it would not pay ransom to get the children released, adding that a different option will be adopted to rescue the pupils.
This is as it was gathered that many of the children are already falling sick in the hands of their abductors.
Daily Trust reports that parents of the abducted pupils are now regular visitors to churches and mosques begging for money to raise the ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
The kidnappers, few hours after the abduction, released 11 of those children who were too young and could not walk faster like the older ones.
A three-year-old, who was among those released, later died after he was abandoned for not keeping up with their pace.
Speaking with the publication, a source from the community disclosed that the bandits contacted the headmaster of the school, Alhassan Garba Abubakar, to inform him of the ill health of the children.
The kidnappers were said to have assured the headmaster that all the children were still alive but that some of them are sick because of the conditions they are subjected to over the past two weeks. Abubakar confirmed that the ransom had been reduced to N150 million.
Abubakar said:
“I just finished speaking with the bandits and they confirmed all the pupils are alive but you cannot expect them not to be sick with the conditions they are now with the bandits.”
The headteacher added that the parents of the abducted pupils had continued to raise money to meet the demands of the bandits.
“They have gone to churches and mosques to raise the ransom.“The amount raised so far has been a far cry from what the bandits are demanding before they release the pupils.“I am not part of the committee of the parents going to churches and mosques to solicit for donations for the ransom money to be paid; so I cannot tell you the exact amount of money raised so far,” he said.
Meanwhile, Secretary to the government of Niger State, Alhaji Ahmed Matane, has said the bandits could use any kind of strategy to make the parents agitated to pay the ransom.
He, however, reiterated the government’s stand on the non-payment of ransom.