Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has debunked the speculations that the Kaduna-based Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, was involved in the safe return of abducted Kuriga Schoolchildren.
Grassroots Parrot recalls that the cleric had offered to negotiate with bandits for the release of the pupils.
The governor, who stated this on Channels Television on Sunday night, said all the 137 schoolchildren abducted on March 7, 2024 from the Chikun Local Government Area of the state by bandits have been rescued.
According to him, they were rescued by the military in collaboration with local authorities from neighbouring Zamfara State, where the hostages were moved by their kidnappers.
The governor described as speculations, talks in some quarters that ransom was paid, stressing that Gumi was not involved in the rescue of the pupils.
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Sani said, “All those speculations you are hearing today are figment of some people’s imagination. I can tell you that without any fear of contradiction. There was nothing like Gumi in this operation. I can tell you. I won’t undermine the efforts of our Armed Forces.”
The governor also said contrary to reports, only 137 children, not 287, were abducted from the LEA Primary School and Government Secondary School, Kuriga, about four weeks ago.
The relieved governor said the number released by the military is the authentic figure, describing “287”, as a figment of some people’s imagination.
“I don’t want to join issues with anyone in terms of numbers. What is more important to me is the safe return of the children. Today, I am happy that they are back safely, in high spirits, but those numbers were just figments of some people’s imagination,” the governor stated.
“Today, I met with the families of the children and they confirmed to me that the numbers given by the military are the correct numbers,” he added, describing the “287” as works of propagandists.
Killing of Teacher
Sani, however, regretted that a teacher who was kidnapped alongside the pupils couldn’t make it out alive as he developed some health complications while in captivity.
He commiserated with the family of the deceased teacher and consoled the families of the released schoolchildren.
He said, “Its only one person that has not returned and that is the teacher. That is the fact of the matter, but all of the 137 children are safely back. We had the unfortunate incident that the teacher couldn’t make it because he had some complications; he was sick — that was the report we got from the military and the security agencies but the rest of the children, all of them are back with us.”