Our students mistook farmers for kidnappers – Nasarawa headmistress

The headmistress of Peter Quality Foundation Academy in Rukubi, Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Mrs. Esther Ndernen, has explained that no student was kidnapped.

She said the pupils only became frightened after mistaking farmers for kidnappers.

Ndernen spoke with our reporter on the phone following viral reports about an alleged kidnap attempt.

She explained that the children were on break and playing at the school’s playground when one of them went into a nearby bush to defecate.

There, he saw some men and women working on their farm, all dressed in dark clothing.

The boy panicked, assumed they were kidnappers, and rushed back to tell other pupils.

The headmistress said teachers were supervising the pupils outside but did not notice the moment the boy ran back into the school. The rumour spread quickly among the children, causing confusion.

“When I went to the playground to see what was happening, I met the farmers working on their land. They told me no one else was around,” she said.

By the time she returned to school, some pupils had already run home to inform their parents that kidnappers were nearby.

She added that fear spread easily because there had been a recent kidnapping incident in the area.

Security operatives, including soldiers and police officers, later arrived at the school to verify the rumour.

According to her, what happened at about 10 a.m. was only a scare, not an actual kidnap attempt. She noted that if there had been a real abduction, parents would have rushed to the school immediately.