Just In: 14 abducted Greenfield University students released after parents paid ransom

14 abducted students of Greenfield University in Kaduna State have been released.

Channels Television reports that the kidnapped students were released on Saturday afternoon at a location along the Kaduna- Abuja highway.

The Chairman of the Parents Forum, Markus Zarmai and few others were expected to receive the students at the drop-off location.

According to the Channels TV report, parents of the abducted students said that they paid ransom, in addition to providing eight new motorcycles to the kidnappers before they agreed to release their children.

The students were abducted by bandits from their hostels on April 20.

On April 23, the remains of three of the abducted students were found in Kwanan Bature village, a location close to the university.

The Kaduna Government reported on April 26 that the kidnappers had killed an additional two students.

At a meeting held in Kaduna in April, parents of the students appealed to the government and public to help with the N800 million ransom demand from the kidnappers.

The Kaduna State Government and the Federal Government had however discouraged ransom payments to bandits.

Between June 2011 and March 2020, at least $18m was paid to kidnappers as ransom, according to a report by SB Morgen.

The trend of abduction from boarding schools was started by the armed group, Boko Haram, which seized 270 girls from a school in Chibok in the northeast in 2014. About 100 of them were never found. Armed criminal gangs seeking ransom have since carried out copycat attacks.