Thirty-million naira was paid as part-payment to abductors of the freed students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
This was disclosed by some of the 334 schoolboys abducted but have been released with the government claiming their release was secured without ransom paid.
At variance with the government’s claim, some of the affected schoolboys in an interview with American Wall Street Journal, said the kidnappers demanded a million naira on each student and they had it on good authority that government paid an initial N30m in ransom.
The paper said three boys said their kidnappers told them they were initially paid 30 million naira, equivalent to around $76,000, but decided not to release the boys because they had demanded 344 million naira—1 per head.
It quoted one of them, Yinusa Idris, a 17-year-old as saying, “They threatened to release only 30 of us when the 30 million initial ransom was paid. They even took 30 of us away on motorcycles ready to release.”
Another, Imran Yakubu, reportedly said the kidnappers told them: “One million naira must be paid per each student…or we will recruit or kill you.”
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