There are indications that three primary school pupils abducted at UBE Primary School at Rama village in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have escaped from their captors.
According to one of the teachers quoted by Daily Trust, the pupils escaped when the bandits attempted to rustle some cows and motorcycles at a nearby community.
The teacher, Naomi Francis, said the three pupils have regained freedom but said they had been beaten by the bandits before luck came their way.
It is however not certain whether the three teachers earlier abducted also escaped.
The teacher was quoted to have said that the bandits came into the school after the morning assembly.
“We had all gone into the classrooms when six of the bandits came on motorcycles while others surrounded the school.
“I had stepped out from my class when I noticed students of primary 5 and 6 running out. I immediately alerted my students to run and they did.”
The newspaper also quoted a resident, Mai Saje Rama, who also confirmed that the pupils had returned to the community.
“The vigilante that went after them came back without success, they could not locate the bandits,” he said.
When Daily Trust said it interviewed the Councilor of Rama, Aliyu Isa, he denied that no pupil was abducted.
He claimed the bandits attacked a nearby village and abducted two persons and also stole cows.
But Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who initially did not respond to calls and a text message sent to his phone, later issued a statement to confirm the abduction.
He had said the government would issue a detailed statement later.
According to the Daily Trust, the abduction happened 24 hours after security agents thwarted an attempted abduction of 307 students of Government Science Secondary School in Ikara Local Government Area of the state and another attack at the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) quarters in Igabi LGA of the state.
On Thursday night, bandits had invaded the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, in Igabi LGA and abducted 39 students comprising 23 females and 16 males.
Security agents had earlier rescued 180 of the students but the gunmen who made away with 39 students are now demanding a ransom of N500 million.
