Parents of some of the abducted students of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State, have said it is on the pages of newspapers and social media that they read about the efforts to release their children.
The parents, who spoke off the record, told our correspondent that the kidnappers have not contacted them and the state government has not reached out to them officially.
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“The state government has not addressed us. Nothing has been said. All we have heard is assurance on the pages of newspapers.
“We got hint of what happened on social media at times, though we have been reaching out to school to know if there is any development, but the bottom line is that they are still in captivity.
“Nobody has reached out to us. They have not demanded any ransom. This experience is better imagined because I would have preferred a hundred times for me to see the corpse of my child. I will definitely know that he is dead. I will see the corpse and then I will honorably bury my child than going through this trauma.
“In this condition, you don’t know how your child is doing. It’s painful that you are not even sure whether he is still alive which is the most traumatizing part because sometimes when you lose your loved ones, you will know that they are gone but in this case, it is something else because you don’t know how the child is faring.
“Someone you love has been has picked by some people without pity or sympathy and no even human dignity,” one of the parents said.
‘Govt’s failure caused this problem’
Adamu Alaji, a father, whose two children are among the kidnapped students, said a serious government should have reached out to the families, stressing that it was the government’s failure that caused the problem.
He said, “I can’t imagine my two sons sleeping with unknown gunmen inside the thick forest for long under this harsh weather. This is too unfair from the government.
“Imagine me having two sons in Kidnappers’ den and I’m still expecting the governor’s invitation to brief me and other parents, but we only saw him flew into the place of the abduction in choper and flew to Abuja. He has not for once brief us,” Alaji added.
My son broke loose
Another father, whose son escaped from the bush while they were being whisked away, narrated the ordeal the boy went through in the hands of the kidnappers.
According to him, “My son escaped at the point of their head count where they were parading them. But ever since my son came back, he has been complaining of tiredness, dizziness and body pain.
“My child told me that they heard noise at about 2 am, and when they discovered it was bandits. All of them continued running out of their hostels. By the time they came out, the bandits had surrounded the entire school. They led them on their way to the bush. It was there my child escaped.
“He said they chased him up to Tegina and later left him. He slept in the thick forest for 5 hours. It was in the morning he came back to the school compound luckily.. As a father I was very disturbed. When I heard the news of the incident, I did not believe he escaped until I heard his voice and saw him.
“Initially they said they did not see him, but when they saw him I was relieved. I immediately I arranged for his transport back home.
“Since he came back he has been at the hospital, because the kidnappers shot him but the bullet could not penetrate.
“He sustained several injuries and he has been complaining of dizziness and tiredness, because while they were chasing him he fell on rocks and big stones.”
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