Parents of the remaining students of Bethel College, Kaduna still in captivity after they were kidnapped from their school are in a dilemma following the refusal of the kidnappers to release the students after ransom has been paid.
It was gathered that after struggling to raise a whopping N65 million, and delivered to the kidnappers, only 28 pupils were released out of the over hundreds abducted, pushing parents of the majority yet-to-be-released pupils into further disillusion.
One of the parents who craved anonymity said each parent was asked to pay N500,000. “But to our greatest dismay, only 28 of the 121 children were released. We gave them the money in bulk, why should our children be released in bits?”
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Speaking with the tone of a visibly distraught mother, she said her child is one of those who are still being withheld and that it has not been easy coping with the situation.
“Honestly, I haven’t been able to sleep in the last three weeks since this thing happened. I can’t even eat. Imagine the trauma the parents are passing through. It’s not funny at all. In fact you need to see me. Most of the clothes I could no longer wear, it is now that I am able to put them on.”
Worse, she said no parent has been able to speak with their children. “They only communicate with the school and the officials of the Baptist Conference.”
On whether the kidnappers have given any reason for not releasing the other children, McCarthy again said, “We don’t know. Honestly, I’m just coming back from the school now, but the management of the Baptist conference are just asking parents to be calm. How can one be calm under this kind of situation? There is no way anyone can be calm with their children out there in the bush.”
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Another parent who also wanted to remain anonymous, said his child is also still in captivity.
Asked if he was actually able to raise the N500,000 as required by the school authority, MacDonald said, “I don’t think you’re correct there. The Baptist Conference only asked us to support them. And of course I did what I could.”
At this point, he seemed to suddenly become aware he was talking too much and literally became taciturn, refusing to give any further details. And then he said, “I am very sorry, we’ve been forbidden to talk to the press until our children are back.”