Three of the abducted students of the Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna State who escaped from their abductors but fell into the hands of another set of abductors have been released after the payment of an unspecified amount as ransom.
This was confirmed yesterday by the chairman of the Kaduna State Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Rev John Joseph Hayab, who described the situation as not only unfortunate but traumatic for the students, their parents and the church.
The three students who are all males were said to have been found by troops at the Kankumi forest general area in Chikun local government area where they were abandoned by their abductors.
This brings to 31, the number of students freed from the 121 kidnapped from the school on July 5, 2021. The abductors had released 28 of them.
Revd Hayab said, “ They (children) escaped from the camp of the bandits and fell into the hands of evil persons who kidnapped them again. The children escaped before the 28 were released but when they fell into the hands of these evil people they kept them and started asking for another money.
“The three that were kidnapped were not released by bandits, they escaped from the bandits’ hand three days before the 28 were released but sadly they fell into another evil Nigerian who kept them and we were begging and negotiating with him.
“They initially asked for N10 million, then it was reduced to N5 million and finally we came to an amount that we agreed.
“They were kidnapped and re-kidnapped by another group, so these children have suffered and that is why Nigerians must help us to see that the other 80 who are still with the bandits return immediately because it is not fair what the children are passing through,” he stressed.