KADUNA: Abducted FCFM students beg govt to pay ransom in viral video

A VIDEO, believed to have been released by abductors of the students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, has surfaced online.

In the video, the abducted students, who looked distressed and forlorn, were sitting on the floor in an unknown forest guarded by armed men whose identities were concealed.

The victims appealed to the government to hasten their release by paying the ransom demanded by the bandits.

They also warned the government against the deployment of security operatives to the location adding that, according to their abductors,  such a move would be futile and counter-productive. 

Speaking on behalf of the other students, one of the abductees who identified himself as Benson Emmanuel said most of them were injured and needed medical attention.

He said “My name is Benson Emmanuel, from forestry mobilisation. We appeal to the government to come and rescue us. Most of us here have been badly injured,” Emmanuel said.

“Time is going. Most of us here are having health issues and they (bandits) are complaining about the government trying to send security operatives to come and rescue us from here, which is almost impossible, because these people have surrounded us, saying anybody that comes from anywhere to come and rescue us or do anything by force, they are going to take our lives.

“We are appealing to the government to come now, because these people have a bad mind towards us.”

Some of the victims were seen wincing and writhing in pains as their abductors kept whipping them at interval.

Naija Times had reported how some gunmen, suspected to be bandits, stormed the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Afaka, in Igabi LGA, Kaduna State in the early hours of Friday and abducted scores of students.

Hours after the abduction, the state government said 172 students and eight staff members were rescued from the bandits, but the whereabouts of the remaining students were unknown.

The missing students, acording to the Commissioner of Internal Affairs and Home Security, Samuel Aruwan, were  39 in number.