PARENTS and relatives of the kidnapped pupils and teachers of the Apostolic Faith Group of Schools, Emure-Ekiti, Ekiti State, have cried out for government to help in rescuing the victims being held hostage by gunmen.
The gunmen had on Monday ambushed the school bus conveying the pupils and staff to Eporo-Ekiti, a suburb of Emure at a bad spot and whisked away five pupils and four members of staff to the forest.
The kidnappers later reached out to the families of the victims and demanded a ransom of N100 million for the release of their loved ones but after much pleading the gunmen reduced the ransom to N15 million on Thursday.
Speaking on Saturday during a visit to the Emure-Ekiti community by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Interest Groups, Princess Toyin Agbaje-Malomo, the parents said the abductors rejected the N7 million already contributed by them and insisted on collecting N15 million as ransom for them to release the nine hostages.
Present were four parents and families– Mrs Dorcas Ojo, the grandmother of three of the children ages 15, 11 and 11; Mr Adebisi Jegede, whose wife and 12-year-old son are in the kidnappers’ den; Oluwadare Oniya, father of abducted nine-year-old girl and Pastor Clement Adebisi, whose wife was kidnapped.
A worried grandmother, Ojo, in her reaction, said, “From what we gathered this morning, it is money we want. The kidnappers have said that if we bring the money now, that they would release them to us now.
“I have three children there. It is the kidnappers that are calling us that the children are getting weak and that we should bring their N15m ransom on time. When we offered them the amount that we have gathered, they rejected it saying unless the N15m is complete.”
Also speaking, Pastor Adebisi, said that the kidnappers had promised not to accept anything less than N15m as ransom, adding, “We want government to please remedy this situation for the release of the abductees.”
Adebisi, who said that the parents and family could see the efforts of individuals, communities and government, said, “With help here and there, we have raised N7 million. We begged the kidnappers to accept N7 million, but they refused. We are still looking for N8 million for it to be completed so that we can rescue these people.
“We see what government is doing; we saw the helicopter on aerial surveillance on Friday.
“Whenever the kidnappers contact us on phone, they will be hitting the people with them so that we can hear their cries and feel their pains and take the money to them on time. We need help because the Fulanis told us that they will not release our people if the money is lesser than N15m.”
A distraught father, Oniya said, “We plead with government to help us today (Saturday) so that these people can rejoin us today. There is problem, let us focus on how the children can be released, after that, government can go after the kidnappers.
“My child there is nine-year-old. At that age, you can imagine the situation she will be in because when we talk with the abducted persons, they told us that the kidnappers don’t give them food or water. It is going to a week now. We have tried, but our best appeared not up to what the kidnappers want.”
Also, Jegede, anxious over his wife and son, said: “We are appealing to government to come to our aid so that we can rescue the kidnapped persons today (Saturday). We are getting worried over the condition that the children are in.
“We plead with government to come to our aid. We have offered all that we could raise, but they said it is not enough, and insisted on N15m. That is why we want government to come to our aid so that they can be released today,” he said.
Responding, the governor’s aide assured the parents and families that the victims would soon be rescued and the kidnappers arrested.
Agbaje-Malomo said: “You are not alone; we are together in it. The governor is assiduously working on it so that our people in captivity will be rescued to rejoin families and loved ones.
“The governor is with you. He feels your pains. He has asked me to assure you that based on the ongoing efforts, all of them will be returned to you safely in no time. That is the assurance I am here to relay to you today.”
On his part, the Chairman, Emure Local Government, Adedayo Adedigbo, said that the efforts made by the state government, Emure community and the security agencies would culminate in the rescue of those in the kidnappers’ den.
Adedigbo said, “they will be rescued safely. We have been making efforts. The bushes are being combed by hunters, Vigilante, Amotekun operatives from Ondo and Ekiti, police, RRS, and even the police. Helicopter is now being deployed in aerial surveillance. The community is not resting. There are prayers for their release and we are believing God.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer for the state command, DSP Sunday Abutu, who denied knowledge of the ransom being demanded, said security operatives are closing on the abductors in a bid to rescue the nine victims unhurt.
The police spokesman said, “The Nigeria Police Force Airwing and the Intelligence Response Team have arrived from Abuja to augment the force we have on ground and both overt and covert operations to rescue the kidnapped school children have been intensified”, he added.