Kaduna School abduction: FG rules out ransom payment, considers US offer
The Federal Government, on Wednesday, reiterated its zero tolerance for the payment of ransom saying it would not pay “a dime” as ransom for the release of over 280 pupils and teachers kidnapped from the Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School at Kuriga, Kaduna State.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told State House Correspondents at the end of Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting held at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja that the President has also directed that no ransom will be paid by the government to any of these criminal elements,”
Idris insisted that the security agencies were “working round the clock” to ensure the release of the students and teachers kidnapped on March 7, promising that they would be “brought back to safety.”
The Federal Government’s stance came barely 24 hours after Kaduna-based Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, offered to approach and have a dialogue with terrorists who abducted the pupils.
The Federal Government also said it had received offers of help from the United States and other countries to secure the student’s release and was weighing the offers.
The terrorists reportedly invaded Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna, shooting at their targets before whisking away the pupils and teachers from both schools.
Locals said the secondary section of the school was relocated to the primary school on account of the security threats to the council.
