The bandits behind the abduction of some students of Greenfield University, a Kaduna-based private-owned institution, have reportedly contacted their parents and demanded a collective ransom of N800 million.
The gunmen abducted the students during an attack on the private university on the night of Tuesday, April 20.
The academic institution is located along the Kaduna–Abuka highway in Chikun local government area of the state.
The Nation reports that the bandits threatened to kill the students if the ransom is not paid, noting that negotiation of the ransom was already ongoing.
A cousin to one of the kidnapped students, Georgina Stephen, who confirmed the development said the kidnappers have been beating the abducted students, insisting if the ransom is not paid they will kill all of them.
Similarly one of the parents of the abducted students who spoke under the condition of anonymity also confirmed the development.
The unnamed parent reiterated that the kidnappers had called to demand a collective ransom of N800 million.
He, however, could not however confirm the number of the abducted students.
Also reporting the latest development, PM News said Samuel Aruwan, the commissioner for internal security and home affairs, said the actual number of students kidnapped was still being sought from the institution’s records.
It is worthwhile to note that the latest abduction was the second at a tertiary institution in Kaduna state since March.
Early March, 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, in Kaduna were also abducted.
