Anxiety over Fate of Four Kaduna Female Students Held in Captivity

Palpable fear has gripped parents of the four female students of Prince Academy, Damba-Kasaya, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, who were abducted along with their teacher over two weeks ago. The students were abducted on August 24, 2020, when bandits invaded the community at about 8a.m. that fateful day. One person was killed during the incident, while many Junior Secondary School (JSS3) students of the academy, who were receiving lessons for their final examinations, were abducted. However, some of the students were said to have escaped following the intervention of security agents who pursued the hoodlums to the bushes. The four students, including their teacher, also a female, have been in captivity since then without any communication from the gunmen. The parents of the students are becoming agitated following the killing of a 14-year-old girl, an officer of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and a police officer, who were also abducted by bandits in their homes at the Mararaban Rido area of Kaduna metropolis on August 28. The bandits were said to have killed their victims after collecting ransom. Speaking in an interview on Wednesday in Kaduna, a family member of one of the abducted students said since their abduction, there had been no communication from the bandits. He said: “We have been having sleepless nights over their whereabouts. We are deeply worried about the girls and their teacher. We are concerned about their safety. “Right now we don't have any information about them because the bandits have not been communicating. The kidnappers called only once after they were abducted. “They called the parents to inform them that the girls are with them. Since then, they have not communicated again. We have not heard anything from them.” The family member called on the bandits to have mercy on the students and their teacher and set them free, adding: “I am appealing to them to fear God; have mercy on them and free them.” Efforts to reach the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mohammed Jalige, for his reaction were unsuccessful as his mobile phone was not connecting.