The two remaining kidnapped students of the Federal Government College (FGC), Birnin Yauri, have regained freedom after spending 707 days with their abductors.
According to sources, the girls, Faida Sani Kaoje and Safiya Idris, were released early Thursday morning after lengthy negotiations by a special committee formed by their families and well-wishers and led by the bandits.
Recalled that four of the Yauri female students with two babies, were released after payments of huge ransom to Dogo Gide on April 22, while another three Elizabeth Ogechi Nwafor, Esther Sunday and Aliya Abubakar, were released on May 7.
It was gathered that a notorious bandit kingpin, Dogo Gide, had insisted that some conditions must be met by the Kebbi State Government, before the remaining girls could be released.
It was also gathered that the release were effected after a huge ransom was generated by parents and other stakeholders when the Kebbi Sate Government was reluctant to meet the bandits’ demands.
However it cannot independently confirm if the ransom paid by the parents was up to the 100 million naira demanded by the bandits.
Recalled that the parents of the abducted children had to beg Nigerians to come to their aid financially in order to rescue their children from their abductors.
In a letter addressed to all Nigerians in January 2023, the group known as “Committee of Parents of 11 Abducted Students of F.G.C Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, Nigeria,” passionately solicited financial assistance towards raising the sum of N100 million as ransom to be paid to the terrorists, in exchange for their wards.
In the said letter, the Chairman and Secretary of the ‘Committee of Parents, Salim Ka’oje and Mr. Daniel Alkali respectively, said their female children (aged between 12-16 years) had been in the custody of their abductors for about 20 months now.
“…And the abductors are demanding the sum of N100 million before they release the girls,” they added.
It would be recalled that eleven students were kidnapped when bandits invaded their school June 17, 2021, some of the girls had become teenage mothers, while about four others were pregnant as at November 2022.