Contrary to the federal government and the two states’ account, the account by some of the schoolboys kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, in Katsina State, by suspected bandits on December 11, confirmed ransoms were paid for the rescue.
Three of the boys told the Wall Street Journal that their kidnappers told them they were initially paid N30 million naira, but decided not to release them because they had demanded N344 million to the 344 hostages.
“They threatened to release only 30 of us when the 30 million initial ransom was paid,” the newspaper quoted 16-year-old Yinusa Idris as saying.
“They even took 30 of us away on motorcycles ready to release.”
Another abducted schoolboy, Imran Yakubu, a 17-year-old, said the kidnappers told them “One million naira must be paid per each student…or we will recruit or kill you.
The American newspaper also stated how a person familiar with the negotiations said a ransom was transferred in three batches.
The boys were further told, on December 16, that if they returned to school, they would be kidnapped again.
But Zamfara and Katsina governments have insisted no ransom was paid, and the military also said they deployed both kinetic and non-kinetic means to rescue the boys unhurt.
The kidnappers were angry the military surrounded them in Tsafe forest where they kept the children, warning the federal government to stop the show or force or risk the lives of the schoolboys.
Some of the students who spoke to local media also attested to how the ground and aerial deployment put the frighteners on the bandits.