Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has ordered security forces not to pay ransom for the release of more than 250 schoolboys kidnapped by gunmen last week, Information Minister Mohammed Idris said Wednesday 13 March following a council of ministers. According to relatives of the victims, the kidnappers demanded a large payment for the return of students kidnapped on March 7 from their school in the village of Kuriga, in Kaduna state (North-West). But Mohammed Idris told the press that the head of state had expressly asked the security forces to ensure that “not a cent is paid as ransom”.
A law was introduced in 2022 to prohibit handing over money to kidnappers. But in recent years, hundreds of schoolchildren and students have been kidnapped, particularly in Kaduna State. “It would be a crime for us, the parents of the children, to negotiate payment with the kidnappers, even if we had the money to pay. We have no chance of raising the amount they are asking for anyway,” said Muhammad Kabir, a parent of abducted children in Kuriga.
Kidnapping victims are usually released shortly afterward following negotiations with local authorities, although state officials still deny that ransoms were paid. Typically, families and entire villages pool their savings to pay the ransoms, because they say they have little trust in the authorities and feel they have no choice.
Aid from the United States?
Authorities say troops are searching forests to rescue the students, but families say few details have been shared with them. The information minister reported that several countries, including the United States, had offered assistance, but that the government was “considering” the proposals. The United States has not confirmed this information or provided details.
Criminal gangs often carry out mass kidnappings in northwest Nigeria, targeting schools, villages and highways. Two weeks ago, more than a hundred women and children were kidnapped from a displacement camp in Borno State (Northeast) by suspected jihadists; on Saturday, at least fifteen students from an Islamic school in Sokoto State (Northwest) were kidnapped by armed men, according to local sources; and on Tuesday, gunmen kidnapped dozens of people in a village about 150 kilometers from Kuriga, according to two local officials and a U.N. source.
This wave of large-scale kidnappings challenges Mr. Tinubu’s government, which has promised to tackle insecurity.
