Kidnappers have again threatened to kill the remaining students of Greenfield University in Nigeria’s northwestern Kaduna state if their demands are not met by Tuesday.
They had first killed three of the students, and later another two, while negotiating an N800 million ransom with the parents.
The killings according to the terrorists were meant to prove that the state and the Nigerian governments have failed.
The terrorists had attacked the school on April 18 and abducted some students, with the state government yet to officially confirm the number of students taken captive.
Sani Idris Jalingo who had identified himself as the leader of the bandits in a telephone conversation with the Hausa service of the Voice of America (VOA), said 17 of the students are still in their custody.
The terrorist noted that the families of the students had already paid N55 million which he claims was used to feed the abductees.
Further demands from Jalingo includes a ransom of N100 million and 10 motorcycles.
He however warned that if the Kaduna state government or the victims’ families fail to meet their demands by Tuesday, the remaining students will be killed.
“We heard the utterances of the Kaduna State Governor that he will not pay ransom to bandits to purchase additional arms,” Jalingo said in the interview in Hausa.
“He also said he told his family that he will not pay ransom if any of them is kidnapped. So, we want to show that the Nigerian Government has failed that is why we killed the students.”
“If they don’t get the money, they will kill us all,” the words of Abigail Usman, one of the abducted students who spoke during the telephone conversation.
She had appealed to the government to pay the ransom and secure their release.
By Abel Ejikeme