33 days in creek: Why militants refused to release school kids-Investigation

Today is 33 days that militant kidnappers, led by General America, swooped on the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, abducting six students.

After the abduction of the students, many people, including parents and the school authority had thought it was usual abduction-pay-ransom and victims would be free process.

This abduction, however, has taken a bizarre turn. The parents, frantic to have their kids back in their bosoms, had borrowed money and sold property in order to raise N10million for ransom.

The raising of the money came after the parents stormed the Lagos State Government Office, Alausa, Ikeja, praying the government to intervene and rescue their children.

The move to plead with the government became necessary after General America, leader of the militants, insisted that he wanted the government to pay the ransom.

The kidnappers had earlier demanded for a whooping one billion as ransom. According to the kidnappers, the parents of the victims, who are fishermen and farmers, were too poor to pay the ransom. Thus government should pay; but government refused to play ball.

A few days after the protest to the government house, General America reluctantly accepted the N10million ransom, which the desperate parents cough up.

The militants’ collected the ransom on a Friday and hope was high that the school children would be released that Friday night or the following day.

But till date, the children have not been released, while their parents have become praying mantis. The kids continued to remain in the creeks, exposed to mosquitoes and traumatized. Some were said to have fallen sick.

This will be the first time militants had collected ransom and didn’t released victims, especially minors, within 24 hours after payment.

Yesterday, a source gave inkling into the cause of the present standoff situation.

According to the source, the problem has been linked to the expert, quick and sympathetic manner that the Lagos State Government intervened and handled the abduction of the victims of the Nigerian Turkish College, Isheri.

The source said: “After the abduction of victims from the Turkish school, government played a vital role in the release of the victims. The government supported in the ransom payment with a whooping sum of money. During the sharing process, General America got a chunk of the millions. In fact, we gathered that was the largest sum of money he had ever received since his sojourn into kidnapping.

“He then decided to embark on this abduction; this time, he targeted the Lagos State Model College. He was hoping to make another millions. Unfortunately, the government has now released he wanted to be using them to make money. He wouldn’t stop. That was why, when he and his men abducted the school children, he insisted that government should pay the money. I don’t think government would pay. The kidnappers collected the N10million from the parents and still held unto the students. They are still hoping that the government will pay the ransom.”

Last week, the New Telegraph exclusively reported that the kidnappers, after collecting the N10million ransom from the distraught parents, demanded for another N20million.

A source said: “According to our intelligence gathering, America and his men are determined to collect N50million as ransom. This is the amount they apparently had in mind all along.”