The government of Kaduna negotiates the release of over 287 kidnapped students and instructors, who were kidnapped about two days now, in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, at the Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School, Kuriga 1.
A well-placed source in the Kaduna State Government House, close to the negotiations but requesting anonymity for security reasons, revealed that the state government, through a private negotiator (names withheld), is negotiating the release of the students and instructors with the bandits. The private negotiator is a very powerful negotiator who has mediated multiple kidnappings with outlaws in the past.
On Thursday, at around 8:30 a.m., bandits broke into the LEA Primary School in Kuriga, taking students and a few school employees hostage just after the assembly. The instability in the neighborhood had previously forced the secondary school to relocate to the primary school’s grounds.
During his Thursday visit to the school, Governor Uba Sani promised to safely return the kidnapped students.
“As your governor, I assure you, by God’s grace, all children will safely return,” Sani confidently told the community members. Following this, within 48 hours of the kidnapping that ignited public fury, an official disclosed ongoing negotiation with bandits for releasing the 287 hostages.
According to the source, “The military has started searching the forests for the kids that the bandits took. Security personnel have blocked off the area and started searching for the kidnapped students. “The administration is exerting every effort to swiftly secure the release of the kidnapped school children and instructors.”
Through a well-known professional negotiator, the government of Kaduna has made contact and reached out to the bandits for negotiations. The negotiator previously advocated for the release of several students kidnapped in past years, demonstrating a history of successful interventions. In the past, he (the negotiator) had successfully negotiated the return of numerous abductees. He mediated the release of students who had been kidnapped in Katsina State many years ago.
Two government representatives confirmed the developments to a correspondent, who remained anonymous due to the subject’s sensitive nature. Furthermore, they refused to provide details, arguing it could jeopardize efforts to secure the victims’ release and endanger them.
“You know this is a really delicate matter,” one of them remarked. I am unable to provide any details regarding the negotiations due to security concerns. We aim to protect the security personnel and negotiator’s lives and prevent the bandits from harming the students or professors.
The governor convened an emergency security meeting on Friday but did not disclose the details of the discussions to reporters.
The governor during his visit assured that the Kaduna State Government will exhaust all efforts for their release.
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