The gunmen suspected to be bandits who kidnapped the Bethel Baptist High School students have made demands for foodstuff from the school to feed the 121 students in their den.
Recall that the gunmen have attacked the private school situated in Damishi, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State in the early hours of Monday 5th July, making away with over 100 students. Later reports have it that 17 of the students have returned, although, the Nigerian Police said the number of returned students are 27.
Speaking in a new interview, the Principal of the school and the President, Kaduna Baptist Conference, Rev. Yahaya Adamu Jangado has said that the bandits have called to say that 121 of their students are in their captivity and have made demands for food to feed them with.
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The bandits were said to have put a call through on the day they abducted the pupils and then called again on Tuesday to speak with top officials of the school. Though they have not asked for any ransom, the bandits demanded for rice, beans, oil, and other food items so as to prevent the children from starving. They also allowed some students to speak to the school officials.
Confirming the number of returned student and those in captivity total the number of missing students, jangado said, “For now, we know that we have 154 students in the school hostel and yesterday (Monday) after the exchange of fire between the soldiers and the bandits. We came to the school and recovered 28 students, some of them hit in many places. Some of them in the course of taking them away, they escaped and they came back to the school. So the total number of students we recovered yesterday (Monday) were 28 and today (Tuesday) by the grace of God we had a call from the bandits and they assured us that our children are well and doing okay. In fact, we had the privilege of speaking with a few of them. They counted themselves in the jungle and they gave us information that they are 121 and when we put the number together with what we have recovered, we discovered that the number is exactly the same as the number of students we have in the hostel. They called us to say that our children are there with them, they are doing well, they are sound, we spoke with a few of them, that is the information for now.”
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“We called the parents here to appreciate them for their patience, understanding and calmness and also solicit for their support in this trying moment. We assured them that as management we will do anything possible to bring back their children. I want to thank God because the parents are understanding. We are working together to see what we can do. For now, we do not know what the bandits will say. They may call for ransom and we may have to negotiate and we have also agreed with the parents to work together in prayers and look up to God in this matter. We have informed the Government about the matter and we had a meeting with them also and they promised us that they would do everything possible to go for a rescue mission and make sure the students are back”, Yahaya Adamu Jangado he added.
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