From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
On Thursday, March 7, 2024, armed bandits invaded the Local Education Authority (LEA) Primary School and Government Secondary School, all in Kuriga in Chikun Local Government, Kaduna State and abducted several schoolchildren.
Initial available information claimed that 287 children were abducted from the two schools. However, on Sunday, March 24, when the news of their rescue filtered into the air, it turned out that 137 of them including a teacher were abducted.
The teacher identified, Abubakar, did not survive spending days in the strange Dansadau forest in Zamfara State. He died before help could reach him. The circumstances surrounding his death are still not clear as at press time.
General Officer Commanding (GOC), 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Major General Mayirenso Saraso, who handed over the freed children to Governor Uba Sani, explained that both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches were deployed in the rescue operation in Zamfara State, several kilometres from Kaduna where the children were abducted.
Handing over 131 children, 76 girls and 61 boys, excluding six others, who were receiving treatment at a military medical facility the GOC said: “We successfully freed 137, but you will discover that six of them are not presently with us here. They are being attended to medically in our facility at Darlet Barracks, one male with five female students who are hospitalised.
“Through the sustained and coordinated application of both kinetic and non-kinetic efforts by the security agencies, the abducted Kuriga schoolchildren have in the early hours of Sunday 24th March 2024, been safely rescued after spending about 16 days in captivity.”
Sani said: “What is more important now is that the abducted schoolchildren have regained freedom, which is the joy of Kaduna State Government.
“When this incident happened, some of us were encouraged by the efforts of the security agencies because we were working with them closely, sharing a lot of intelligence reports, and have been giving information and that is why we are here today.
“I also want to caution insecurity merchants and conflict merchants in Nigeria to be cautious with their utterances because, before the release of our children, a lot of people have been coming up with a lot of permutations about how these children were released, what happened.
“As a government, our duty is to protect the lives and properties of our citizens. And under my government, Kaduna State will continue to prioritise our security because security is the number one agenda of our government.”
The rescued children were earlier taken to Kaduna State Women and Children Centre for psycho-social therapy and finally reunited with their families. That was on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
One of the parents, Jibril Tafida Kuriga, said his joy knew no bounds since the news of the rescue of the children reached them in Kiriga: “I am excited that the Kaduna State government has promised that our children will be brought back to us, tomorrow. That is great news.”
On whether ransom was paid for their release: “We have not heard anything about ransom at any time. In the past, we had no single security officer in our community. But now, we have over 60 security personnel that will ensure the safety of our children who are going back to school.”
Director, Defence Media Operations, Defence Headquarters, Maj.-Gen. Edward Buba, said the level of distress created by the abducted Kuriga schoolchildren provided sufficient grounds for the troops to exploit and rescue them:
“The success demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the armed forces to secure and protect the citizens against harm and acts of terror. The level of distress created by the children was sufficient enough for troops to exploit in their rescue.”
Unfortunately, about 173 other locals who were kidnapped in their villages in Chikun and Kajuru local governments at about the same time as that of the Kuriga school incident appeared to be on their own as little or nothing has been heard about their possible rescue.
A source in Kajuru told Daily Sun that the bandits killed three of the abductees even though they had not contacted the community about what they wanted from them: “We have not heard any good news concerning our people who were kidnapped almost the same time the Kuriga school children were kidnapped.
“Last week, the bandits killed three of them. We are confused. The whole attention was given to the Kuriga incident while other kidnapped victims in the same state are left in the hands of their captors.”
The source appealed to the President, the governor and security agencies to pull all swings necessary to ensure that these others, who are held in captivity returned home in good time.