Two More Bethel Baptist School Students Escape Captivity — Police
The students escaped their abductors amidst possible ongoing negotiation with the kidnappers, approved by the Kaduna state government.
Police in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria, have said two more abducted students of Bethel Baptist Secondary School have escaped from their abductors.
Terrorists, locally known as bandits, abducted more than hundred students of Bethel Baptist School located in Maraban Rido, Chikun Local Government Area of the state on Monday, July 5, 2021.
Mohammed Jalige, police spokesperson in the state, in a statement seen Friday morning, July 23, 2021, said the escapees were sighted looking distraught around Rijana community along Kaduna – Abuja highway by a passerby who immediately reported to the police.
According to Jalige, the students were identified as Emmanuel Mangwai, 20, Mathias Mangwai, 16, and had escaped their captors while on a daily task to fetch firewood from the nearby forest where they were held hostage.
“They, however, decided to take the opportunity of not being monitored and escaped to the Rijana community along Kaduna – Abuja highway,” Jalige said in the statement.
According to him, the rescued students were taken to Police Clinic Kaduna for medical checkup before they would be reunited with their families.
The latest development comes more than a week after Abraham Aniya, one of the 121 abducted students escaped captivity and was found by a joint security force on routine rescue patrol, roaming the forest in Tsohon Gaya village of Chikun Local Government Area.
The police did not give any further detail about the condition of the rest of the abducted students.
The Kaduna state government has been silent about the release of the students.
But Uba Sani, a senator representing Kaduna Central at the National Assembly, had on Thursday, July 15, 2021 defended the state government, saying it deliberately allowed the management of the school to enter into negotiations with the students’ abductors.
This is a U-turn by the Northwestern state government that has maintained a no negotiation with ‘bandits’ stance over the time.
“We will not come on television to tell you all of our plans, these are our ways. We will not change our ways,” Sani had said in an interview with Channels Television.
According to the Daily Post, the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N60 million alongside food items.
It remains unclear if ransom has been paid for the release of the students.
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