An Islamic Cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, has told the Central Bank of Nigeria to swiftly pay the Greenfield students’ ransom being demanded by their abductors before it becomes too late, noting that the government should not take the threat by the abductors lightly, The Punch has reported.
Recall that nothing less than 23 students and a member of staff of Greenfield university were abducted from the school on April 20, 2021, and news has it in a few days later, that five of the students have been killed by the abductors.
The Islamic cleric, while having an interview with The Punch, stated that the “CBN should pay the N100m ransom being demanded by the kidnappers of the student before its too late.”
Gumi’s statement was prompted by the crying of a parent of one of the abductees who lamented the kidnappers were insisting on N100m ransom.
According to The Punch, a parent, who spoke in Kaduna on condition of anonymity, cried that the bandits were still insisting on their demands and also threatening to kill the students if their demand is not met quickly.
One of the bandits, Sani Jalingo, in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America, has on Monday, announced the request for N100m and 10 motorcycles ransom for the students to be freed. He further threatened that the students would be killed if the Kaduna State Government or families of the students failed to meet the demands by Tuesday (yesterday), The Punch reported.
Another parent, who spoke to The PUNCH correspondent in Kaduna at 9 pm on Tuesday, called on the Federal Government to do everything possible to rescue the students. He also seeks the help of corporate organisations to assist in rescuing their children.
He added that the bandits have vowed not to settle for nothing lesser than their demand and would kill the remaining student if it’s not treated as a matter of urgency.
In his words:
‘The bandits still stand their ground of demanding N100m and ten motorcycles; no individual negotiation.
“We are calling on the government to do whatever it can to see to the release of our children. Our children have stayed long in the forest.
“We don’t know the state of their health at the moment. We don’t know whether they are being fed or how they are treated by the bandits.
“All that we can say now is for the government of the day, especially, the Federal Government and well-meaning Nigerians to come to our aid. We can’t afford the N100m and the motorcycles demanded by the bandits.
“We are also calling on corporate organisations to come under their corporate social responsibilities to assist us to get our children out of the bandits’ den.”