Updated: Bandits threaten to kill 17 varsity students
**Want govt, parents to pay N100m, supply 10 new motorcycles by today
** Kidnappers of Kogi LG chairman demand N100m ransom
Idibia Gabriel, Kaduna
Bandits who kidnapped Greenfield University students in Kaduna have threatened to kill the remaining 17 of their captives if the state government or their families fail to comply with their demands.
Recall that 22 of the students and three staff members of the university were abducted from the school campus along the Kaduna-Abuja highway on April 20. Five of them have so far been killed.
The bandits issued the threat in an interview with the Hausa Service of Voice of America (VOA), monitored in Kaduna.
A leader of the bandit group who identified himself as Sani Idris Jalingo, said if the Kaduna State Government or the families fail to pay a ransom of N100 million as well as provide them with 10 brand Honda motorcycles by Tuesday, the remaining students will be killed.
Jalingo said there were 17 students in his custody, 15 female and two male, among them a grandchild of the late 18th Emir of Zazzau, Shehu Idris, whom he identified as Hamza.
The bandit revealed that the families of the students have already raised and paid N55 million to them but claimed they had used the money to feed the students.
He vowed that it was his final warning and should government or the students’ families fail to meet his demands, all the students will be killed.
“You are speaking with the abductors of Greenfield students. We heard the utterances of the Kaduna State Governor that he will not pay ransom to bandits to purchase additional arms,” he said.
Asked if he sees himself as a terrorist, Jalingo laughed and said: “I’m nothing but a food seeker.”
Emphasising on his threat, the bandit said: “If they fail to bring N100 million and 10 brand new Honda motorcycles known as Boko Haram by Tuesday, I can assure you they will use trucks to evacuate the bodies of the remaining students.”
He warned security agencies not to waste their time planting trackers on the motorcycles, saying his members do not go to cities and therefore arresting them will be difficult.
In a related development, abductors of Mr. Pius Kolawole, Chairman of Yagba West Local government in Kogi State have demanded N100 million for the release of the elected chairman.
The abductors of the council chairman on Sunday night called the Secretary to the Local Government as well as one of the family members of the chairman to lay down their demands.
The kidnappers also said they were going to call back by 10 am on Monday to continue negotiations, but called 12 noon.
Reportedly, the kidnappers also have reached the Kogi State Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Mr. Taofik Isah who doubled as the chairman of Ijumu Council Area.
The chairman was kidnapped on Saturday evening on his way from Ilorin, Kwara State capital to his hometown Egbe, a border town between Kogi and Kwara State.
