Parents of abducted Kaduna college students deny paying N17m ransom

Parents of the abducted students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, in Kaduna State have denied paying N17million ransom for the release of the students.

While distancing themselves from a newspaper publication that stated that the parents paid N17million which led to the release of 10 students through an ex-bandit, the parents on Tuesday said there was no truth in the statement.

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“It is true that 10 out of 39 students abducted have been released, in two batches of five. Neither the claim that N17 million was paid to the bandit nor that we are linked with the ex-bandit to negotiate on our behalf is correct,” the parents stated.

A statement issued by the Chairman and Secretary of the parents’ committee, Sam Kamabi and Friday Sanni respectively described the publication as “cheap blackmail and an attempt to distract the committee from its commitment to secure the release of their children, who have now spent 39 days in captivity.”

The committee appeal to the media to desist from sharing unverified and unfounded stories and urged them to join their voices in calling on government at state and federal levels, to work extra hard to ensure the safe release of the children so as to reunited with their families.