The kidnappers of the 15 students and four staff members of Zamfara State College of Agriculture and Animal Sciences (CAAS) Bakura, in a video posted on Wednesday, have threatened to kill all their hostages within the next 24 hours if ransom is not paid. In the 30 seconds video clip, one of the victims who spoke in Hausa language is heard pleading on the state government to come to their aid, while the bandits seen wielding AK 47 rifles stood behind them. The victim said they are faced with the threat of death from their abductors and they will be killed if the government does not act in the next 24 hours. He said they even took them to where they deposited the corpses of those kidnapped in Yarkofoji community. While he was speaking, one of the bandits, brandishing his AK 47 gun, kept saying “Yes, see it here we mean it. Everyone should see it here. It’s not a lie. Yes, we mean it.” In the video, the students and some of the female staff can be seen squatting and blindfolded with the armed evil-doers surrounding them.
The victims comprising 15 students, three female and a male member of staff of the school were abducted in a Sunday night attack in Bakura. In the course of the attack four persons, including a police officer and three gatemen, were killed.
Malam Atiku Aliyu, the Deputy Registrar of the school, who confirmed the incident, said the attack occurred on Sunday. Aliyu said that they stormed the school at 10:00 p.m., shot the policeman and the two security guards dead, before moving into the hostel and staff quarters to abduct the victims.
The deputy registrar appealed to the security agencies to come to the aid of the school.
Mr. Matawalle has expressed sadness over the abduction, noting that the government had been strengthening its capacity to provide security to schools across the state since the abduction of Jangebe school girls.
He also assured the parents of the abducted students that his government would intensify efforts to rescue them.
