Rescued 137 Schoolchildren Arrive Kaduna Gov’t House Amid Tight Security
The 137 students from Kuriga school in Kaduna State, who were previously abducted and later rescued, have now arrived at the State Government House.
The teenage children arrived on Monday under tight security measures, as they brought in three Coasters and two minibusses from the 1 Division Nigerian Army Headquarters in Kaduna.
Recall that the students were kidnapped on March 7, 2024, from an LEA and Junior Secondary School in Kuriga village, Chikun local government area of the State.
They were held captive by bandits in an unknown location in Zamfara State for 18 days before being rescued by troops on Sunday morning. On Sunday, parents and community leaders gathered
at the Government House upon hearing the news of the children’s release, only to be informed that they could collect their children on Monday.
There were rumors that the Kaduna State government paid ransom to the kidnappers for the release of the schoolchildren.
Speaking earlier on Sunday, the Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, stated that the reports that ransom was paid to free the abducted Kuriga students are irrelevant.
Governor Sani, in an interview on Channels TV, said what was important was that the government had been able to rescue all of them unhurt.
He said, “What is more important today is that our children are back home. Most of those permutations are not necessary. If your child is kidnapped, will you be sitting down and talking
about how he was released?
“For me, what is more important is that those children are back home. Their parents are extremely happy and what is important to them is to reunite with their children.
“But some people who have no business with the situation are the ones coming out with some irresponsible permutations about whether ransom is being paid, whether someone had gone into
the kinetic or non-kinetic approach. What is important to us in Kaduna is that the children are back home.”
According to Governor Sani, his government handled the Kuriga schoolchildren abduction very discreetly, adding, “We tried as much as possible not to jeopardize the lives of the innocent
children. Some people at some point wanted to politicize the whole incident.”
