Arrested bandits may be released to secure return of abducted Kagara students
· Legit- Emerging reports indicate that negotiations are ongoing concerning the release of the abducted Kagara students
- One of those involved in the negotiations is a popular Kaduna-based cleric, Ahmad Gumi
- However, Gumi has not been able to specify when a deal on the negotiations will be reached
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A report has indicated that some arrested bandits may be released as part of a negotiation deal to secure the return of the abducted students and workers of Government Science College, Kagara, Niger state.
According to The Punch, the bandits responsible for the abduction have made a request for their members in custody of security agencies released as a swap deal to free the abductees.
Source: Twitter
A popular Kaduna-based cleric, Ahmad Gumi, told the publication on Friday, February 19, that he had a meeting with some bandits in Niger state as part of efforts to rescue the victims.
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Speaking on the demand made by the bandits about the release of their arrested members, Gumi said:
“They did not really give it as a condition. We are just saying, ‘Please release them,’ and they said, ‘Okay, we will release them (the pupils and staff members of the school) but we also want you people to consider our people (bandits) that were arrested.’”
The Muslim cleric expressed the hope that negations with the bandits will lead to the timely release of the abducted victims
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Meanwhile, the Sultan of Sokoto-led Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) has warned that Boko Haram might have infiltrated to areas where banditry now thrives.
JNI in a statement on Friday, February 19, condemned the attack on the Government Science College, Kagara, Niger state, Vanguard reported.
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The secretary of the group, Khalid Aliyu, said the abduction of students from the school would not have occurred if there was adequate security at the institution.
In another news, Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education, has alleged that there is a “strange incestuous relationship between government and abductors.”
Legit.ng reports that Ezekwesili who wrote on Twitter on Friday, February 19, said the relationship had enabled the industry of abduction to flourish.
The ex-minister lamented that the friendship with abductors is being thrown in the face of citizens by those in authority. She further described the friendship as shameful.
Kess Ewubare is a senior political/current affairs correspondent at Legit.ng. He has both a BSc and a Master’s degree in mass communication. He has over 10 years of experience in working in several fields of mass communication including radio, TV, newspaper, and online. For Kess, journalism is more than a career, it is a beautiful way of life.