Two Weeks After Their Abduction 259 Children Still in Kidnappers’ Den

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Two weeks after their kidnap, the 259 pupils/students of the St. Mary’s Catholic Nursery Primary/Secondary School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State are still in the hands of their abductors.

Apart from the 259 children, 13 of their teachers abducted are also still with their abductors.

THISDAY learnt that the majority of the pupils and students are aged between five and 16 years while the teachers are reported to be between 20 and 23 years of age.

All of them according to findings belong to the Christian faith.

National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu who led a federal government delegation to Kontagora during the week, assured some of the parents that “we know where the children are.”

But the parents claimed they have been kept in the dark about the whereabouts of the kids and their teachers.

“No one has said anything to us about our children,” one of the parents told THISDAY on the phone.

The worried parent said, “We, the parents of the abducted children, should assemble where our children were kidnapped tomorrow (Saturday).”

Asked if the proprietor of the School, who doubles as the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Most Reverend Dr. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, contacted the parents on the issue, the parent said “no”.

The parent urged Nigerians to join them in prayers for the release of their children.

However, speaking at the opening of an eight-day retreat organised for commissioners designate, local government council chairmen and their deputies, and Special Advisers, Governor Alhaji Mohammed Umaru Bago, restated the determination of the government to rescue the teachers, pupils, and students abducted from their school in Papiri town.