The bandits, who abducted 15 students and 4 staff of the Zamfara State College of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (CAAS), Bakura, have released a video showing the victims begging the government for help.
The “Save Our Lives” plea was directed to Governor Bello Matawalle and the state government.
Recall that the students and staff were abducted on Sunday night when the bandits attacked the college premises in Bakura.
The college registrar, Aliyu Bakura, who confirmed the abduction to BBC Hausa on Monday morning, said four persons, including a police officer and three gatemen, were killed in the attack.
In the 30 seconds video clip seen on Wednesday, one of the students called on the state government to do the needful.
The students and some of the female staff are seen squatting and blindfolded while about seven bandits heavily armed with AK 47 guns surround them.
In the video, the students speaking in Hausa said, “Peace be unto you all. You can all see the situation we are in! We are the students of Zamfara College of Agriculture and Animal Sciences Bakura that were kidnapped. As you can see, we are being threatened with death by them unless the government does something about it in 24 hours.
“They have taken us to where they deposited the corpses of those they kidnapped in Yarkofoji community and they confirmed to us that if the government fails to take action from now to tomorrow morning…”
While the students were speaking, one of the bandits showing off his AK 47 gun kept on saying, “Yes, see it here we mean it. Everyone should see it here. It’s not a lie. Yes, we mean it.”
Confirming the authenticity of the video, a former senior staff of the College who now works with the Zamfara State University in Talata Mafara, said the bandits sent the video to some parents of the abducted students.
Mafara said, “Yes, I can confirm that and some of them (bandits) have started discussing ransom with the parents.”
Meanwhile, the Zamfara state governor, Bello Matawalle has expressed sadness over the incident adding that the government has been strengthening its capacity to provide security to schools across the state since the abduction of Jangebe school girls.
