Five of the 136 school children who were kidnapped from Salihu Tanko Islamiya School in Tegina, Niger State, on May 30, have died.
This was disclosed by the Head Teacher of the school, Abubakar Hassan, while being interviewed on Arise TV on Tuesday.
Hassan stated that many of the children are young and weak, ranging from 4 to 17 years.
He also revealed that the bandits called him to confirm the deaths and insisted that the money they are demanding must be paid in full.
Hassan stated that in the course of speaking with the bandits within the last three days, the abductors told him most of the kids were seriously ill, including those with swollen legs and other ailments.
He also noted that the parents of the children and several public-spirited people had donated some money which the bandits collected but still refused to free the kids.
The Head Teacher said, “I was told they are all weak, apart from the young adults who may be a bit strong. Their clothes are dirty and torn. The bandits asked us to find a way to sew some clothes and pass them over. They (the kids) are almost naked.
“People have contributed what they could through their efforts. We don’t have any money again. And we are still gathering money and a number of motorcycles so we can have them released.
“We are not happy that our kids are in the bush and we don’t know the date they will be released. We have lost hope in human beings, but we have not lost hope in the Almighty God.
“We still looked for other ways of getting money and we gathered the sum of N30 million. We have also taken the money to them and yet they declined to release the kids. They are asking for additional N20 million for now.”
Hassan mentioned that he had pleaded with the bandits several times to release the students after they initially told him two of the kids had died. “I pleaded and I was crying. So, they said they were slashing the ransom to N80 million.
“That makes it five children because we had lost one before, lost another two and we now lost another two.’’
Earlier this month, it was reported that an elderly man sent to deliver ransom to the bandits to secure the release of the abducted students was seized by the kidnappers.
It is not clear if he has been released till now.
