Fifteen of the teachers abducted from the Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Niger State are reported to have escaped from their kidnappers’ den.
The headmaster of the school, Abubakar Alhassan, disclosed this on Monday when the State Governor, Abubakar Bello met with parents of the abducted pupils at the palace of the Emir of Kagara, Ahmed Gunna on Monday.
The headmaster disclosed that the teachers are in a military facility in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State and would later be handed over to the Niger State Government.
Governor Bello advised parents of the abducted students to exercise patience as the government is exploring all possible avenues to safely rescue the children.
He told the special squad of combined security operatives has been deployed to Rafi LGA and regretted the rate of kidnapping in the state.
According to a statement by Mary Noel-Berje, chief press secretary to the governor, Bello said the time has come for his government to take decisive action “once and for all” to end banditry in the state.
He said: “We will give you all the necessary support to enable you to implement all your security strategies to ensure the safe return of our abducted children and others, if any.
“We have tried our possible best not to make them succeed in forcing us to change our normal lives; they started by displacing farmers from their farmlands, next they moved to burning farms.
“Then, they moved to kidnapping and forcing us to close our schools, now they have started attacking Islamic schools, only God knows what is next.”
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