The Federal Government has explained it rejected the options of negotiation and ransom-payment to bandits to avoid empowering the criminals the more.
Minster of State for Education, Chief Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, gave the explanation on Wednesday while responding to questions from State House Correspondents after the week’s virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister was reacting to a question on recent viral harrowing videos of some students in kidnappers’ den, pleading for rescue.
He said the Federal Government is concerned, moved and working to secure their rescue but had decided against empowering bandits and kidnappers through ransom-payment.
He said: “We are constrained to stop negotiations with bandits because we’ve seen that every time they get any payment, it leads to further escalation because they re-equip and they rearm and then they go back.
“Because if you notice what happened from the kidnap at the College of Forestry, in Kaduna, this was prior to the kidnap at the Baptist College and at Usman Polytechnic before they got the university children.
” Now, there is none of our students that will be held that we’re happy at all. It doesn’t matter which level. One is even too many at any time.
“So yesterday (Tuesday) the military returned with our children that they were able to rescue.
“We’ve seen the videos you alluded to, and while we cannot attest to their veracity with how authentic there is, it is still concerning, and we are in touch with the military authorities. They are in continuous pursuit of them.
“I was in Katsina to discuss with the detachment that is overseeing that area and all the way to Buni Yadi in Kebbi state where we have some of our children still held. Tigana boys are the ones in Niger state, the Islamia school.
“We are continuously engaging, there is no such thing as Federal Government not engaging, almost day and night we are engaging.
” From anywhere that we are in the world we’re trying to engage and I’m just trying to assure Nigerians that as distressing as it is, we are on top of it.
” And we will keep doing all that we can possibly do to get our children and keep our students safe.”
