Bandits who abducted 39 students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have made a U-turn on their earlier stand to only negotiate with the government.

Daily Trust gathered that the bandits are now reaching out to individual parents, demanding for ransom after Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State insisted that he would not negotiate with bandits and vowed to prosecute anyone who does.

Our correspondent reports that a few days after the abduction, the bandits had warned parents against reaching out to them, insisting that they would only negotiate with government representatives.

Ten of the 39 students were last week released in two batches following what sources say was intensive negotiations with the aid of intermediaries, in which all 39 students were expected to be freed.

The bandits however only released 10 students comprising of seven males and three females as against the initial agreement.

Daily Trust gathered from some of the parents that the bandits have in the last few days reached out to them individually to demand ransom and threatened to harm the students if they failed to pay up.

One of the parents who spoke with our correspondent said: “They asked my daughter to call me and she was crying and pleading with me to get the ransom and pay otherwise they will kill her.”

Another parent told our correspondent that the bandits threatened that she would never see her daughter again unless she and other parents mobilised N500 million for their release. (Daily Trust)

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