Bandits ask for N20m per head for students; two nurses kidnapped in Kaduna

Two nurses from the Idon General Hospital in Kajuru LGA of Kaduna state have been abducted by gunmen.

Another media report disclosed that the set of bandits who took 23 students and staff of Greenfield University in Kaduna a day earlier are asking for an average of N20 million per head.

Meeting a brick wall with the state government which has said it will not negotiate ransom with terrorists and bandits, the men of the underworld now call fearful parents to negotiate for their children and wards.

According to a family member, the kidnappers have been beating the abducted students, insisting if the ransom is not paid they will kill all of them.

Samuel Aruwan, the state commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, confirmed the kidnap of the nurses.

Shingyu Shamnom, medical director of the hospital, on Kaduna- Kachia road was quoted as saying, “We were in our homes until a call was put through to us that it was kidnappers who invaded the hospital, only to discover that two of the nurses on night duty have been taken away by the bandits,” Shamnom said.

“The kidnappers went away with the phone of one of the staff whom we thought was also kidnapped but he later returned.”

On the kidnap of the Greenfield University students, Aruwan said, “Last night, the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs received distress calls of an attack by armed bandits on the Greenfield Univerity, situated at Kasarami, off the Kaduna-Abuja Road in Chikun LGA.

“Troops of Operation Thunder Strike (OPTS) and other operatives swiftly moved to the location and the armed bandits retreated.

“After search-and-rescue operations, a staff member of the university, Paul Ude Okafor, was confirmed to have been killed by the armed bandits, while a number of students were kidnapped.

“The security operatives took custody of the remaining students who have been handed over to the institution, as at noon today, Wednesday 21st April 2021.

“The actual number of students kidnapped is still being sought from the institution’s records.

“Troops and other security operatives are working in the general area, and the public will be informed of further developments”.