Bandits free Tegina Islamiya students after receiving N68million ransom, motorcycles

The pupils abducted from Salihu Tanko Islamic School, Tegina, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, have been freed.

NewsWireNGR gathered that the pupils were released on Thursday after spending over 80 days in captivity.

Recall that 136 students were abducted on May 30 when  armed bandits broke into the school premises.  Eleven pupils were later released because they “were too young and unable to walk”.

Parents of the victims had raised millions as ransom but the bandits reportedly collected the money and made fresh demands, leading to the delay of the pupils in captivity.

A Daily Trust report on thursday revealed  that the students were only freed after ransom of over N50m was paid by parents and sympathisers of the students. According to the paper, the kidnappers had agreed to free the remaining 116 pupils if the ransom reduced from the initial N200 million to N50 million was paid.

Recently sympathisers had mobilised N30 million to the kidnappers at an agreed location in the forest after an initial N20 million was paid in June. But after counting the money, the abductors declared that it was N4.6 million short and detained the conveyor of the ransom, while also holding the pupils.

They subsequently phoned the parents to send the N4.6 million balance plus another N2 million short from the initial payment of N20 million, totaling N6.6 million. The kidnappers also made fresh demands asking the parents to supply six brand new Bajaj motorcycles before the pupils would be released.