The Kaduna State Police Command has described how an audio message on social media made the kidnappers of the 37 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State to run away.
Having fled, the students found it easy to escape.
A large number of kidnappers invaded the school located in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, right opposite the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) and made with the students.
A few days after the invasion, the kidnappers released a video where they were seen torturing the students and later demanding N500 million ransom.
The students were later released in batches after over 50 days in captivity following the intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and popular Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi.
The Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Jalige disclosed on Thursday that if not for the audio message leaked on social media, after the arrest of one of the suspects, more suspects of the kidnapping would have been apprehended.
He added that after the social media audio reports, other suspects ran away with many of them now at large.
Jalige said that the arrested suspect was undergoing investigations and would soon be paraded and charged to court accordingly.
In his address to newsmen, the PPPRO said that, “The suspect we arrested was not the only suspect we had wanted to arrest.
“He mentioned some names, but because of the social media (audio) that went viral, they have all ran away.
“So far, I am only confirming to you that we have arrested the suspect and investigations are ongoing. As soon as we are done with investigation, we will let journalists know. We will issue a statement to that effect or we may parade him. Yes, a suspect has been arrested and he is currently undergoing investigation.”