Nigeria: Police Didn’t Release Our Children; We Paid Ransoms - Parents Of UNIJOS Students

Parents of the kidnapped students of the University of Jos, Plateau State, have disclosed that they paid ransom to get their children freed for kidnappers, contrary to claims by the Nigerian police. The victims were abducted from their off-campus hostel in Jos while preparing for second-semester examinations.

The Nigeria Police Force, Plateau State Command had said it rescued six out of the seven students of the University of Jos.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Alfred Alabo, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Jos said that five of the students were rescued, while one escaped from the kidnappers’ den unharmed.

The police spokesperson had said that "The police command is pleased to announce to the general public that six of the seven victims who were kidnapped on June 13, have regained their freedom. ”The command swung into action immediately after the incident was reported, and worked tirelessly in collaboration with its Anti-Kidnapping unit, family members of the victims, and the community to secure the release of the victims.

”Five of the victims were rescued, one escaped from the kidnappers’ den, while one victim is still in captivity,” Alabo said. However, while speaking with journalists in Jos on Monday, the distraught parents of the kidnapped students faulted the police claim, noting that the kidnapped students were rather released after they paid ransom to the kidnappers.

The parents, who explained how the students got to the police station, noted that the kidnappers left them in the bush after paying the ransoms. One of the parents, Dung Prince, whose son Dan, was among the freed students, explained that the parents raised ransom after the kidnappers contacted them and they negotiated.

“We, the parents of the kidnapped students, later met and I can tell you that each parent discussed with the kidnappers individually for ransom payment.  And it was after we agreed with the kidnappers that they asked us to come to Gurum village near Mista Ali community in the Bassa LGA of Plateau State. “We went there and after giving them the ransom we earlier agreed, they asked us to return to a bridge in Mista Ali and wait; that the kidnapped students will meet us there.

We waited till 12am, and when there was no sign of anyone in sight, one of the parents, whose son was also kidnapped, suggested that we leave the place and report the matter at the Mista Ali Police Station. “As we got to the police station, we were surprised to see the kidnapped children there,” the parent said.

“The students told us that the kidnappers left them in the bush and that as they were trekking towards the town, they met a woman and inquired to know where they were and the woman told them that they were in Mista Ali. “They begged the woman for food and she gave them one moin-moin. The woman then took them to the chief of the village, who then moved them to the police station.

So, the claim by the police that the students were rescued by its anti- kidnapping unit is not true.” Another parent, Monday Mwi, who corroborated Dung’s account on how the kidnapped students were rescued, added, “It is by the grace of God that the kidnapped students did not die of hunger and exhaustion because the kidnappers fed them only with mango throughout the four days they were with them.”