Untold Story of the Abduction at Engravers College
Few days after six female students and two staff of Engravers College, Kakau Daji, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State were abducted, Governor Nasir el-rufai told journalists at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja that he was on top of the situation. Many took him seriously and thought the kidnappers would soon be smashed and the girls/teachers freed. It did not happen. The governor was just showboating. Our lethargic security agents also disappointed the abducted girls and teachers. There was no sign that they ever got close to the kidnappers. In fact, the girls and their teachers spent 23 days in the dungeons of the kidnappers.
The victims eventually secured their freedom, largely based on the efforts of the parents, concerned indigenes of the state and a retired Army officer, who mobilised funds to meet the demands of the kidnappers. The parents had earlier paid a ransom of N3.6 million for the release of the girls, but after collecting the money, the bandits refused to release their victims and made a fresh demand for a ransom of N10 million. They said they had spent the N3.6 million buying bullets and feeding their victims. At the end of the day, N13 .6 million was paid to the kidnappers. Yes, ransom was paid to secure the freedom of these girls and their teachers. Forget about whatever the security agents and Kaduna State Government have been saying. The retired military officer, who anchored the negotiation, had to mobilise his friends to raise a substantial part of the ransom. This was because it became obvious that security agents and the Kaduna State Government were lackadaisical about securing freedom for the girls and their lives were at great risk.
It is a shame that these kidnappers move around the Kaduna-Abuja Road unchecked.
The ransom was collected at a location on the road. After collecting the ransom, the kidnappers moved the girls and their teachers to the same Kaduna–Abuja Road, dropped them around Dutse village and called the parents to come and pick them. A police patrol team surprisingly got there before the parents, picked them and took them to the Toll Gate Police Station.
Now, it’s been eight days since the release of the girls. The story the police told the parents was that they were aware of the location of the kidnappers, but decided not to go after them, to avoid putting the girls at risk. Now that the girls have been released, I thought the police would have gone all out to nab the brigands. It has not happened. Like in previous cases of abductions, it may never happen. Those who inflicted pain on those children and their parents will most likely go unpunished. What a country!
This country is evidently in a mess with abductors. These gangsters have been raging for almost five years now unconstrained by our maladroit security agents. Daily, kidnappers inflict pain on hapless Nigerians. Civil authority is evidently collapsing.
Last Wednesday, it was the turn of Justice Chioma Nwosu of the Court of Appeal, Benin, to suffer the humiliation. She was kidnapped in Benin and her police orderly (Inspector A. I. Momoh) killed by the gunmen. As at press time, she was still in the dungeons of her abductors.