Bandit group responsible for the abduction of pupils of the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School in Tegina town in Rafi Local Government of Niger State have reached out to the management of the institution to demand ransom.
It was revealed that the bandits contacted the Headmaster of the school, Abubakar Alhassan, around 4 pm on Monday, requesting a ransom of N110 million.
Alhassan while speaking with ThisDay on Tuesday said the bandits claimed to have abducted the 156 pupils.
He further stated that the bandits threatened that they will kill all the children if they fail to pay the ransom by the end of today (Tuesday).
The headmaster of the school noted that the message of the group responsible for the abduction has been passed to the state government.
According to the news platform, another source disclosed that some people in the affected community have started raising the money which they hope to take to the bandits.
The state government said it has put measures in place to secure the release of the school children, but will not pay ransom to the kidnappers.
The spokesman to the state Governor, Abubakar Bello, Mary Noel Berje, quoted the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, as also saying: “Government is on the pursuit of the bandits and efforts are being put in place to identify them.
“The number of the kidnapped schoolchildren is not fully ascertained. However, efforts by security agencies to secure their release have been intensified.
“We don’t pay ransom to abductors. We are trying to negotiate to see how we can bring them back safely.”
The article was originally published on Nigeria News