Four more students of Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria who were abducted earlier this month, have regained freedom.
Reverend John Hayap, Kaduna State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that the students escaped from the abductors on Sunday and were found roaming the forest.
“Three of them met a kind man who contacted us and brought them home to us. So we handed them over to their parents,” Hayap said.
“But unfortunately one of them fell into the hands of a man who demanded that he be given another thing and then give the child.”
Hayap said the man demanded that “we buy him a mobile phone, a N5,000 phone card and N100,000. All in all, we gave him N130,000 and he gave us this boy.”
He added that the rescued students were in critical condition having spent more than three weeks in the hands of their abductors, saying that they complained of pains in their legs.
Terrorists, locally known as bandits, had on July 5, 2021, abducted 121 students of the school located in Damishi, Chikun Local Government Area of the state.
Three of the students had previously escaped, followed by the abductors releasing 28 more after a negotiation with the school authorities.
More than 80 students are still in captivity. Their continued stay in captivity has left parents feeling helpless.
“Parents who have not seen their children are living in misery, grief and anguish because of the ignorance of their children,” Hayap said.
“There was a mother who tried to calm me down by saying that they were saved and God will save them. Since they were not born on the same day, they were abducted on the same day.”
Mohammed Jalige, police spokesperson in the state, said efforts were underway to rescue the remaining students.
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