July 24, (THEWILL) – The bandits who abducted 156 pupils of Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School, Tegina, in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, have detained a courier sent to deliver the N30 million demanded for the release of the pupils over claims that the ransom money was short by N4.6million.
THEWILL learnt that the courier, Kassimu Tegina, was sent with the money through an unnamed negotiator to avoid a repeat of what happened with the N25 million earlier paid as ransom which was said to have been given to the wrong bandits.
The bandits claimed that the N30 million delivered to them by Kassimu was short by N4.6 million and held him captive along with the children until the money was completed.
A parent of the pupils told newsmen: “The bandits refused to release the children and also held the man we sent, Kassimu Tegina, with the help of a negotiator. They said the money is less N4.6 million. They insisted we must complete it, and in addition buy six motorcycles.
“They said as a punishment we must buy six motorcycles and complete the money. We struggled to raise the N30 milly and we have exhausted our goodwill to raise the N30 million. So, we are confused; they (bandits) are playing on our intelligence. We are going through hell in their hands.
The Head Teacher of the School, Malam Alhassan Garba Abubakar, also confirmed that the N30 million was delivered to the bandits.
“But we are yet to see the person we sent with the money and the children. They demanded six Honda motorcycles that cost N490,000 each. That means we need another N6 million with the N4.6 million they claimed was short of the N30 million delivered as the latest ransom,’ he added.
Alhassan further said the parents had initially raised N20 million as ransom, with negotiation fee of N5 million, making it a total sum of N25 million which was delivered as ransom, but the bandits said it went into wrong hands.
He lamented: “They (bandits) said we should bring another N30 million before they can release the pupils. After struggling, we were able to get the money and we sent Kassimu.
“I spoke With them today (yesterday) and they said we should complete the money and make six new motorcycles available to them before they can release them. We are tired; we have resigned to God because we cannot raise any other money again.”
The parents of the abducted pupils of Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School had raised another N30 million through donations from some notable Nigerians to complete the money demanded by bandits as ransom for the release of the school children.
The abductors had reduced the ransom they demanded from the parents of the girls to N50 million, less than half of the initial N200 million earlier demanded for the release of the pupils.
Parents of the pupils were told to pay N30m earlier in the week but they were able to raise N20 million which was collected, but three days later, the bandits after collecting the money refused to release the children.
“They wanted N30 million, we raised N20 million, we gave them the money only for them to say we only gave them money for recharge cards, now three days after, they refused to release our children,” a parent had said.
About the Author
