Abducted Afaka students reunite with their families

After seven weeks in captivity, students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna state, have been reunited with their families.

Ripples Nigeria last Wednesday reported the release of the students, who were abducted by gunmen in their school in the early hours of 12 March.

39 students were kidnapped during the attack but 10 of the students were released in two batches after payment of ransom, leaving 29 to remain until Wednesday when they were freed.

The students, who had earlier been taken for medical check-up by the Kaduna state government, were reunited with their family members on Friday.

READ ALSO: We approached Gumi for help but didn’t give him money —Parents of released Afaka students

Speaking on the incident, parents of the students urged the government to beef up security in schools to ensure the safety of schoolchildren so that parents would be confident enough to allow their wards go to school.

“The journey is not yet over because our children will definitely require rehabilitation to overcome the trauma,” a statement by the Afaka parents forum, reads.

“We call on the government to get more serious and aggressively pursue safe schooling as a pertinent agenda so as to give parents the confidence to send their children to school.

“If the schools remain as porous as they now are, many may not find it worth the trouble to enroll their children in schools anymore.”

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