I won’t pay any dime to rescue schoolchildren kidnapped by bandits: Tinubu

Mr Tinubu says he will not condone banditry or succumb to their demands for ransom to free children held hostage.

ADEFEMOLA AKINTADE • March 13, 2024

President Bola Tinubu says his administration will not condone the activities of bandits terrorising Nigeria or succumb to their demands for ransom to free children held hostage.

Mr Tinubu made the statement at Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting held at the Presidential Villa in the nation’s federal capital.

No fewer than 280 children, all under 15 years old, were taken into captivity after hordes of motorcycle-riding bandits invaded LEA school in Kuriga village in Kaduna state last Thursday.

According to the nation’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris, the Nigerian leader, has ordered top security agencies to get on the matter and speedily ensure the safe rescue of the kidnapped school kids.

At the FEC meeting, Mr Idris said Mr Tinubu took a stance against caving to bandits’ demands through ransom payment and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to rid the nation of all criminal elements that pose a risk to its security.

“The president has directed that security agencies must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that these children and all those who have been kidnapped are brought back in safety and also in the process to ensure that not a dime is paid for ransom,” Mr Idris said on Wednesday.

He added, “So it’s important to underscore that no dime, government is not paying anybody any dime and the government is optimistic that these children and other people that have been abducted will be brought back to their families in safety.”

The president, according to Mr Idris, stressed that his administration would not in any way endorse mass abductions by acceding to the demands of bandits.

“Now, like I said, Mr President has said that is an unacceptable situation and the government will not condone abductions or kidnappings or any kind of criminality in that direction,” the information minister said recalling Mr Tinubu’s words.

However, it is not known if the bandits had contacted the LEA school in Kuriga to demand a ransom and other conditions for the release of the hostages.

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