Headmaster of Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Niger State, Abubakar Alhassan, said on Monday that 15 of the teachers abducted from the school have escaped from the bandits’ captivity.
Alhassan disclosed this when Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello, met with parents of the abducted schoolchildren at the palace of the Emir of Kagara, Ahmed Gunna, on Monday.
No fewer than 136 students and several teachers were abducted from the school located in Tegina town in Rafi Local Government Area of the state on May 30.
The bandits had demanded N110m ransom for the release of the 136 abducted schoolchildren.
The headmaster said the teachers who escaped from the bandits’ captivity were in a military facility in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, where they would be handed over to the Niger State Government.
Governor Bello on his part urged parents of the abducted students to be patient as the government was exploring all avenues to ensure their safe rescue.
While addressing a special squad of combined security personnel deployed to Rafi LGA, the governor lamented the spate of kidnapping and insecurity in the state.
A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mary Noel-Berje, quoted Bello as saying the time had come for his government to take decisive action “once and for all” to end banditry in the state.
The statement read, “We will give you all the necessary support to enable you to implement all your security strategies to ensure the safe return of our abducted children and others, if any.
“We have tried our possible best not to make them succeed in forcing us to change our normal lives; they started by displacing farmers from their farmlands, next they moved to burning farms.
“Then, they moved to kidnapping and forcing us to close our schools, now they have started attacking Islamic schools, only God knows what is next.”
Governor Bello told the special squad that logistics had been provided for them and also promised that their allowances and other financial benefits would always be provided as and when due.
He also commended the security personnel for their efforts in the ongoing fight against banditry and other criminal elements in the state.