Update: Niger governor issues fresh update, says Kagara students, others yet to be released
- The kidnapped students and staff of Government Science College, Kagara, are still with their captors, the governor has said
- The Chief Press Secretary to the Niger state governor, Mary Noel-Berje, who earlier said they had been released has also issued a clarification
- According to Noel-Berje, those released were not the students but other kidnapped victims
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Report emerging from Premium Times indicates that the 42 persons kidnapped by bandits from the Government Science College, Kagara, Niger state, are still with the bandits who abducted them.
Recall that a total of 27 students, three staff members and 12 members of their family were abducted by the bandits in the early hours of Wednesday, February 17.
The newspaper had earlier cited the Chief Press Secretary to the Niger state governor, Mary Noel-Berje, as saying that the victims had been released on Sunday evening, February 21.
Source: Getty Images
Noel-Berje has, however, issued a clarification that the released victims are not the staff and students of the Kagara school.
Daily Trust has also reported that Abubakar Sani Bello, Niger governor, said efforts were still being made to rescue them unhurt.
Meanwhile, a prominent Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, had earlier said that the kidnapped students and others might be released today, Sunday, February 21.
Speaking on Saturday, February 20, Gumi said there was a possibility that the abductees might regain freedom on Sunday, given ongoing talks between the government and the bandits.
Gumi noted that the negotiation for the release of the students and members of staff was slowed down due to logistics, adding that the negotiation does not involve payment of ransom.
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In a similar development, the Niger state government has secured the release of all the abducted passengers of the Niger State Transport Authority.
This was announced via the official Twitter page of the governor of Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello, on Sunday, February 21.
Legit.ng recalls that some bandits had kidnapped the eighteen passengers of the Niger State Transport Authority about a week ago.
In other news, Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education, has alleged that there is a “strange incestuous relationship between government and abductors.”
Ezekwesili who wrote on Twitter on Friday, February 19, said the relationship had enabled the industry of abduction to flourish.
The ex-minister lamented that the friendship with abductors is being thrown in the face of citizens by those in authority. She further described the friendship as shameful.
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Nurudeen Lawal is a Legit.ng journalist passionate about fact-checking/verification journalism. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature-in-English from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. As Politics Editor, Nurudeen mostly writes on Nigeria’s political and socio-economic developments. He has attended different workshops, conferences and training on fact-checking and digital reporting, among others. Learn more about him on Twitter, @Nurudeen Lawal_
Source: Legit.ng
