Abductors of Kaduna college girls drop collective bargain, want N10m from each parent

Abductors of the six female students and two staff of Engravers College, Kakau Daji, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna, have discontinued negotiation for a collective ransom.

They are now demanding N10 million from each of the parents of the abducted girls and families of the two staff members.

Six female students of the Engravers College, their vice principal and matron were abducted on Thursday from the school premises.

The gunmen had earlier asked for N50 million for the six students and the two staff members of the school.

Two sets of the six girls are of the same parents.

The abductors were said to have altered the earlier demand for N50 million, having monitored media reports on the abductions which was said to have infuriated them.

An official of the school who was involved in the negotiations said the abductors are no longer interested in a collective bargain.

He said, “They called individual parents and asked them to pay N10 million each. They said they don’t want collective bargain again, every parent should pay N10 million for the release of their children.

”They told us that they heard the story on BBC. They called me and they were insulting me.

“They said they don’t want collective bargain again. They said every parent should pay N10 million and collect his child” the staff said in a telephone interview.

“They thought I was negotiating for the ransom on behalf of government. I told them that when such incidents happen, newspapers and radio stations always report it for the world to know.

“The asked me whether I am a lawyer, I told them that I am a teacher. They asked whether I am the proprietor of the school. I told them that I am not the owner of the school. Then they asked me to remove my hands off the issue and face my business.

”They asked me whether I can recall some expatriates that where kidnapped sometimes ago. They said they were the ones who abducted them and that it was the government that paid the ransom.

”I pleaded with them to have mercy on the parents of the children because they don’t have that kind of money.”

Spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command could not be reached for comments.