25th March, 2024
The Federal Government, on Monday, has denied that any ransom was paid for the release of 137 pupils kidnapped from Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna State.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris told journalists on Monday that President Bola was committed to the policy of not paying ransom to terrorists. “In keeping with the commitment of Mr. President, no ransom was paid,” he said.
The 137 children who were abducted on March 7, were rescued in the early hours of Sunday after they had spent 17 days in captivity.
The Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, had said the teacher abducted alongside the Kuriga schoolchildren in the Chikun Local Area of Kaduna State died in captivity because of health complications.
Sani who was speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday’s Politics programme, said: “It’s only one person that has not returned, and that is the teacher. That is the fact of the matter, but all of the 137 children are safely back.
“We had the unfortunate incident that the teacher couldn’t make it because he had some complication. He was sick — that was the report we got from the military and the security agencies but the rest of the children, all of them are back with us”.