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No Support From Buhari Government To Rescue Kagara School Pupils – Niger Governor

February 25, 2021

The governor said that the Buhari-led government had left the state to shoulder all the financial responsibilities caused by the current spate of insecurity in the state.

Niger State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has lamented that the attitude of the Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigerian government towards the rescue of students and staff of Government Science College, Kagara is not encouraging.

SaharaReporters had reported how gunmen suspected to be bandits stormed the school last Wednesday, abducting 27 students and workers

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While one student who tried to escape was gunned down, a member of staff luckily broke loose from captivity.

Speaking while playing host to former Abia State governor and Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, on Thursday, Bello said the Nigerian government had left Niger State to its fate.

The governor said that the Buhari-led government had left the state to shoulder all the financial responsibilities caused by the current spate of insecurity in the state.

He noted that the efforts of the state government towards rescuing the abductees were not really showing because of the lackadaisical attitude of the Nigerian government.

“So where is the support? At the moment, we have not seen any federal support here since this incident occurred. Yes, we had a delegation that came to commensurate with us, but we are left to ourselves,” the governor said.

“We will use whatever means and resources available to make sure the children return home safely. We don’t have exact day and when these children will be released but I am very sure very soon.”[story_link align="left"]90694[/story_link]

Meanwhile, the gunmen had threatened to starve the students and workers to death if the ransom they are demanding is not paid on time.

One of the abductors stated this in an audio recording made available to journalists on Wednesday by a prominent Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.

One of the abductors who spoke in Hausa, rejected the N2.7m offered him as a ransom for the 27 abductees.

“I don’t have food for them. If anybody dies among them, we will tell you where to go and pick the corpse.

“You know these children are hungry. I don’t have food to give them, only water if they are going to die, let them die,” the bandit said.

SaharaReporters gathered that the parents of the 27 students had made frantic efforts to contribute N100,000 each amounting to N2.7 million to secure the release of their children.

But the gunmen rejected the money which was presented to them through their contact person who is mediating on their behalf.