The Federal Government announced on Wednesday that it will not pay any ransom for the release of more than 280 pupils and teachers who were kidnapped from Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School in Kuriga, Kaduna State.
The Federal Government also mentioned that it has received offers of assistance from the United States and other countries to help secure the release of the students and is currently considering these offers.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said, “Mr President reiterated his zero tolerance for the payment of ransom… and Mr President has also directed that no ransom will be paid by the government to any of these criminal elements.”
Idris insisted that the security agencies were “working round the clock” to ensure the release of the students and teachers kidnapped on March 7, promising that they would be “brought back to safety.”
The Federal Government’s position was announced just one day after Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a Muslim cleric from Kaduna, offered to engage in dialogue with the terrorists who kidnapped the students.
The terrorists attacked Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna, shooting at the victims before taking the students and teachers from both schools.
