The Nation
By AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna
Parents of some of the abducted students of Greefield University, Kaduna yesterday expressed shock that the kidnappers resorted to killing their children even after opening negotiation with them on their ransom demand.
Three of the students were found dead yesterday, less than 72 hours after their abduction.
The Kaduna State Government and many other Nigerians were outraged by the killing.
The Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) says it is appalled by the government’s policy of no deal with bandits and wants the federal authorities to declare a state of emergency in Kaduna State as the governor, in its opinion, lacks what it takes to handle the security challenge there.
Found dead yesterday were Abubakar Yusuf Sanga (male), Dorathy Tirnon Yohanna (female) and another female whose name could not be immediately confirmed.
They appeared to have been shot.
News of the killing of the students sparked shock, revulsion and outrage across the country yesterday.
One of the victims, Abubakar Yusuf Sanga, the only male among the killed students, was buried a few hours after the bodies were found.
Dorathy celebrated her birthday only on April 15, five days before her abduction and eight days before her body was found.
One of the parents who spoke anonymously said: “We are still in shock. We did not expect the bandits would resort to killing our children because they had contacted us since Wednesday and demanded ransom.
“They called us (the parents) directly and individually, but they demanded for a collective ransom of N800 million.
“So, yesterday (Thursday) we (the parents) met on the school premises and we called them trying to negotiate the ransom, but they insisted on the N800 million.
“Yes, we pleaded with them (bandits) that the amount they were asking for was too much and beyond our power, but we never imagined or expected they were going to be so cruel and resort to killing our children.”
Second victim killed 8 days after birthday
A second victim was identified as Dorathy Tirnom Yohanna by Yamai@ydcoal on Twitter.
Yamai described Dorathy as his sister in law.
In a tweet to Presidential aide,Tolu Ogunlesi, he said: “Hi @toluogunlesi , my sister-in-law was among the 3 dead students found today from Greenfield University. We are all trying to unpack our feelings. People’s children have become sports for bandits & kidnappers. I know you get a lot of stick on here.
“Where do we go from here Tolu? Do we worry about tomorrow? Do we believe in a fair, just and righteous God? My mother-in-law hasn’t eaten or showered in 3 days since her daughter, whom she saw on Monday, got kidnapped & this death was the answer to her prayers.
“Her name is DORATHY TIRNOM YOHANNA …and she died by a plague created by an uncaring government.”
Dorathy uploaded her photograph on her Facebook wall on her last birthday on April 15, five days before her abduction and eight days before her murder.
El-Rufai: Bandits represent worst of human kind
Kaduna State Internal Security and Home Affairs Commissioner Samuel Aruwan broke the news of the students’ killing via a statement, saying “In an act of mindless evil and sheer wickedness, the armed bandits who kidnapped students of Greenfield University have shot dead three of the abducted students.
“The remains of three students were found today (Friday) in Kwanan Bature village, a location close to the university, and have been evacuated to a mortuary by the Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, and Force Commander, Operation Thunder Strike, Lt.Col. MH Abdullahi.”
He quoted Governor El-Rufa’i as describing the bandits as representing the worst of human kind and must be fought at all cost for the violent wickedness they represent.
El-Rufai, according to the commissioner, condemned the killing as sheer wickedness, inhumane and outright desecration of human lives by vile entities.
Evil, the governor further said, would not triumph over God-given humanity.
He appealed to citizens to come together against the forces of darkness challenging national security and the very existence of the Nigerian state.
“The Governor, on behalf of the government and people of Kaduna State, sent deep condolences and empathy to the students’ families and the university community, as he prayed for the repose of their souls.”
El-Rufai, who also spoke on an NTA programme advocated the construction of schools near military camps to curb incessant attacks by bandits in the state, saying that bandits’ attacks on schools could be foiled if troops can get to the affected school within 30 minutes.
According to El-Rufai, the state is working on measures to prevent further attacks, including ensuring budgetary allocations to fence schools.
He also said Kaduna needs more troops deployed in affected areas as the security challenge is beyond what the police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps can handle.
“In our view in Kaduna, first (way to address the situation) is to ensure that schools are fenced, because unless we fence schools, we will give easy access to criminals. So, fencing schools is very important, and that’s a budgetary item; you need money to build fences,” he said.
“The second is to have enough (security operatives) on (the) ground. We must have more civil defence (officers), more private security guards, more vigilante people in the schools and watchtowers so that any threat of abduction can be seen in good time so that you can call for help.
“The third is to look at schools and to ensure that they are located no farther than 30 minutes from military installations, because what we are facing with the bandits is beyond the capacity of civil defence and police. We need the army, the air force and navy special forces.
“We have looked at the pattern of abduction in Kaduna and Zamfara and have come to a conclusion along with armed forces that if the army, air force and navy special forces can get to the location of the schools within 30 minutes, their (bandits’) operations can be foiled.
“Another thing that we have noticed is that these bandits attack rural schools. They often operate at night and they prefer boarding schools. So, that reduces the number of schools we have to protect.”
SOKAPU to FG: Declare state of emergency in Kaduna
The Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) instantly faulted the state government’s policy of no deal with bandits, saying it is not working.
It asked the federal authorities to step in before the situation worsens.
President of SOKAPU, Hon. Jonathan Awake, in a telephone interview with The Nation said Governor el-Rufai’s government appears to lack what it takes to deal with the security challenges, hence the need to bring in new leadership “even if it is the military” to solve the problem.
He said the state government cannot hold on to the no-dialogue policy without a concrete measure in place to secure the people.
“It is quite worrisome that banditry has reached this alarming proportion in Kaduna State. With the level it has reached, where kidnappings take place in communities every day, people leave rural communities in droves to manage with their relatives in town without the assurance that the towns are even safe,” Awake said.
“The schools are not safe, the roads are not safe. The kidnappings have become so rampant. So, my thought is that the federal government should declare a state of emergency in Kaduna State.
“This is because it appears the state government cannot handle what is going on; people are being kidnapped and huge ransoms are being paid. Even the university students, the kidnappers were asking for N800 million before they reduced it to N500 million.
“Today, people cannot go to farm, they cannot go to school, they cannot go to function and there is hunger in the land. And then government keeps saying that they will not pay ransom, they will not dialogue and we have not seen any strategy in place to secure the people.
“And if the government cannot secure the people, they will begin to lose their legitimacy.
“So, state of emergency should be applied in Kaduna State so that they will bring a leader that will come and solve this problem, because people cannot continue to live like this.
“There should be a state of emergency so that certain laws and policies that are holding back security can be removed and some leaders that will take charge of the situation should be brought.
“If it is the military that will solve the problem, let the Federal Government bring them and then they will handover when normalcy returns.
Students’ killing is heartbreaking, says Atiku
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar branded the killing heartbreaking while human rights activits, Shehu Sani, labeled it tragic.
Atiku, in a tweet, said: “Heartbreaking to learn of the killing of three of the abducted students of Greenfield University, Kaduna.
“How long shall we continue to lose precious souls? May their families and friends be comforted. It is time states are granted constitutional roles in the management of security.
Human rights activist, Senator Shehu Sani, called it tragic.
He said: “It’s tragic to learn that three of the students of the Kaduna Greenfield University were murdered by the Bandits who abducted them.
“May their souls rest in peace. Let’s pray for the lives of the two nurses abducted at the Kajuru Hospital yesterday.”
El-Rufai is to blame – HURIWA
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) attributed the killing of the students to a “culmination of lack of political will on the part of the governor to govern the state well.”
National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said: “The governor compounded the problem of the commoners who are at the receiving end of the activities of these insurrectionists and terrorists by continuously making all kinds of incendiary statements and reckless media pronouncements about the kidnappers.
“These same kidnappers that the governor has demonstrated a lack of political will to arrest and prosecute for their crimes against humanity, the governor has gone on to advocate that they should all be killed. Who does that in a constitutional democracy; to kill without following the due process of the law? This is anarchy.
“What kind of a governor is that who will provoke criminals that he has refused to arrest?
“So these criminals have now descended on their victims and killed them to test the ‘might’ of the governor who proclaims that might is right. This is absurd and condemnable.
“So who do you blame? The provocative governor of Kaduna State.”
The three students were killed just hours after President Buhari warned bandits to “stop pushing their luck too far by believing that the government lacks the capacity to crush them.”
The President, who was condemning the latest killings by bandits in Zamfara State, had vowed that “such wanton disregard for life will be brought to an end sooner than later.”
Bandits had killed at about 80 persons and displaced hundreds of others, including women and children, in attacks on many villages in the state on Wednesday.
Reacting to the killings on Thursday, Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, said that “this insane and persistent violence against innocent people must stop.
“These criminals should stop pushing their luck too far by believing that the government lacks the capacity to crush them.”
Twenty-nine of the 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando, Kaduna State, who were abducted by gunmen last month, are still in captivity.
