Not a dime! Tinubu rules out payment of ransom to free Kidnapped students

The Federal Government, on Wednesday, said it would not pay “a dime” as ransom to secure the release of the over 280 pupils and teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School, Kuriga in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, kidnaped on March 7.

“Mr. President reiterated his zero tolerance for the payment of ransom…and Mr President has also directed that no ransom will be paid by the government to any of these criminal elements,” 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.

According to Idris, the security agencies are “working round the clock” to ensure their release, adding that they will be “brought back to safety.”

The government made its position known barely 24 hours after Kaduna-based Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, offered to dialogue with terrorists who abducted the schoolchildren.

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.

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Locals said the secondary section of the school was relocated to the primary school on account of the security threats to the Council.

Conveying the President’s stance on the issue, the information minister said: “In council today, Mr. President reiterated his directive to the security agencies and the Ministry of Defence to ensure that our kids that have been abducted by these criminal gangs are brought back to their homes safely. This was also mentioned by Mr. President in council today

“So the security agencies are working around the clock. These children and people who have been abducted by criminal elements will be brought back to safety pretty soon.

“The security agencies are working hard in that direction. And Mr President has also directed that no ransom will be paid by the government to any of these criminal elements.”.

 

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