Kidnappers demand ₦80 million ransom to release 80 schoolchildren

Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of one million naira each to release around 80 children snatched from Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna last month. “(Bandits) are asking for one million naira on each of the 80 students remaining with them,” Reverend Ite Joseph Hayab told Reuters. The pastor is involved in the negotiations for their release. The attack on the Bethel Baptist High School in the state of Kaduna was the 10th mass school kidnapping since December 2020 which Kaduna State Government has attributed to criminal gangs seeking ransom payments. Kidnappers released 28 children last month after the first batch of 28 was released two days after the raid. But another 81 remain in captivity. Hayab said three students escaped before the 28 were released last month but they were kidnapped again by an unidentified person in the forest who demanded a ransom and was paid over one million naira by parents. Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai has insisted that the government will not pay ransom to empower criminals to get more sophisticated weapons. (The Guardian)