Victor EzejaKaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has said no form of ransom was paid for the release of Kuriga school children abducted by bandits recently.
He said strong collaboration between security agencies led to the successful rescue of the school children.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe primary and secondary school students abducted on March 7, were rescued in the early hours of Sunday.
Defence Headquarters said on Sunday that the school children were rescued through a coordinated search and rescue operation conducted by the military in collaboration with local authorities and government agencies.
The Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General, Edward Buba, in a statement in Abuja, said a total of 137 persons comprising 76 females and 61 males were rescued in Zamfara.
Kaduna governor, who appeared on Channels Television Sunday Politics, on Sunday, expressed joy that the school children were finally rescued unharmed. He also said there was no form of negotiation involving anybody such as the likes of Sheikh Gumi, adding that what is more important at this time was that the children are safely back home and not how they were rescued.
“What is more important today is that our children are back home. Most of those permutations are not necessary. When your child is kidnapped, will you be sitting down talking about how he is released? That is an act of irresponsibility. For me, what is more important is that those children are back home and their parents are extremely happy. What is more important to them is they want to reunite with their own children, but some people who have no business with the situation are the ones coming out with some irresponsible permutations about whether ransom is being paid. What is more important is that the children are back home.”
According to him, the school children will be officially handed over to him by the military on Monday and they will be received by their parents on Tuesday.
He also disclosed that currently the children are being examined by medical experts and psychologists to ascertain their state of mental and psychical health before being reunited with their families.
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Governor Sani countered reports that a total of 287 school children were abducted, saying that there was no specific figure at the time. He maintained that the figure released by the military is what they know, adding that they all safely returned except one of the teachers abducted alongside the children who died of complications while in the custody of the bandits.
“Today, when I met with the families of the children they confirmed to me that the numbers given by the military are the correct numbers. So, that for me is more important because why some people who have no connection with the situation, decided to politicize the issue, decided to try to undermine the efforts of the armed forces, the security agencies, some of course, ignored those kinds of propaganda, but today, I’m happy, the families are happy.
“When you listen to what the Nigerian Army said, exactly 137 children were released and that is the number. But I can say it here that sadly, one person has not returned. That is a teacher, that is the fact of the matter but all the 137 children are safely back. We had an unfortunate incident that the teacher couldn’t make it because he had some complications. He was sick. That’s what we got from the military, and security agencies, but the rest of the children, all of them have come back home safely,” Governor Sani affirmed.
He blamed members of the community where the children were abducted were for not cooperating with security agencies, which led to security lapses that the criminals cashed-in on.
The Kaduna governor urged individuals in communities and traditional rulers to be vigilant and collaborate with security agencies to ensure adequate security.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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