One of the parents of the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, Kaduna State, has narrated how parents of the abductees paid N800,000 to a certain “Fulani man” they were linked to by Shikh Gumi, in their bid to secure the release of their children.
The woman made the disclosure on Tuesday when parents and relatives of the abductees protested in front of the National Assembly.
The students, around 30, from the school were abducted on March 11 by armed bandits.
In a video by RootsTV, one of the mothers of the kidnapped students can be seen saying: “We had been going for several committee meetings; we were taken to meet Sheikh Gumi for a meeting. We were directed to a man called Ahmed who invited a Fulani man whom they gave N800,000. The money, we were told, was just for transport.
“I cried, I told him I am a widow and I don’t have a husband, I am just training this boy to help me tomorrow. I begged him and he said it was none of his business. We tried to begging and he said no, until we pay about N500 million,” the woman said.
The protest comes more than 50 days after the students were taken into custody by the kidnappers. Another woman said the kidnappers had called her for almost two weeks asking how much the parents were able to raise.
Most of the parents who are widows, petty traders and poor, could however not raise the money and depended on the government to help out.
The woman, also a mother of one of the kidnapped students said, “We told them all we were trying to do was to get the government to assist us. Then he asked us if we were going to abandon our children if the government failed to pay.”
The kidnapper told her they had killed one of the students.
Çulled from fij.ng
