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Kidnapped Schoolboys Released After Negotiations, No Ransom Paid – Masari
The Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, has said that ransom was not paid before kidnappers freed hundreds of schoolboys kidnapped from Kankara part of the state.
He said the boys, kidnapped last week, were released after negotiations with the kidnappers whom he described as bandits. He did not, however, say what the bandits got in return for freeing the students.
In an interview with DWTV Hausa on Thursday night, Mr Masari said the boys were being conveyed to Katsina at the time of this report.
“One hour ago, Nigerian soldiers and government officials that were involved in the negotiation for the release of the kidnapped schoolboys have told us that the whole school children have been released, 344 of them,” Mr Masari said at about 10 p.m. Thursday night.
“At the moment, we have arranged for vehicles to transport them from where they are to the state capital, Katsina. From then, we will pass them through to doctors to diagnose them,” he said.
“Those involved in the negotiation include my adviser, some top military and police operatives. Members of Miyetti Allah; (they) were all involved in the negotiation.”
When asked if the government paid ransom before the release of the schoolboys, he said money was not paid.
“We did not pay ransom to the kidnappers, it was purely negotiation,” he said.
He also said the kidnappers were not Boko Haram despite claims to the contrary by the sect.
“They are bandits who kidnapped the schoolboys, not Boko Haram.
“What we will do next is to transport them to us in Katsina, ask our doctors to look at them and then give them new clothes to wear and reunite them with their parents,” he said.
The Secretary to the Katsina State Government, Mustapha Inuwa, had earlier on Thursday evening confirmed the release of the students.
On Tuesday, the terror group, Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the abduction and subsequently released a video that showed some of the boys believed to have been abducted from the school pleading for their safe return home.
Mr Inuwa told reporters Thursday evening that the students were freed in Zamfara and were being transported from Tsafe town in Zamfara to the Katsina Government House on Thursday night.
Kidnapping for ransom has become rampant in Katsina, Zamfara and other Northwestern states, as well as other parts of Nigeria.
However, the kidnap of the over 300 students at a go is the largest such incident in Northwest Nigeria, reminiscent of the kidnap of hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, in 2014, by the terrorist Boko Haram sect.
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The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
