Bandits have freed 15 of the remaining kidnapped students of the Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna. Altogether, the bandits have freed 43 of the 121 abducted students of the school.
The release was confirmed by the chairman of Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Rev. John Hayab, who said the 15 students were released on Saturday night.
Hayab, who reportedly spoke in a telephone interview said: “15 of the students were released on Saturday night, remaining 65 of them with the bandits.”
He added that there would be no ceremony about reuniting the children with their parents as the parents of those released will pick their children and go.
It was learnt that an undisclosed amount of money was paid before the 15 students were freed.
The bandits had said that the students would be released in batches when they freed the first batch of 28 on July 25, 2021, after they were said to have collected a ransom of N50 million, and after the abductees had spent 20 days in captivity.
The students were 121 in number, according to the president of the Kaduna Baptist Conference, Rev. Ishaya Jangado, who is also the proprietor of the school.
They were kidnapped in the early hours of July 5, 2021 around 2am at the school premises along the Kaduna-Kachia highway, Damishi, in Chikun Local Government Area of the state.
After the release of the 28 students in July, the bandits were said to have demanded another N80m for the release of the remaining 80 students.
Israel Akanji, president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), had earlier said no ransom will be paid for the release of the students.
