We can’t afford the ransom, say parents of abducted students

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8 years ago

Parents of the abducted students of the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe have bemoaned what they described as “lackadaisical attitude” of the state government towards their plight, saying they cannot afford to pay the ransom being demanded by the kidnappers.

Some of the parents have also resolved not to allow their children to resume on Monday, following what they described as the “porous” security in the school.

The parents also stated that the police in the state have not been communicating with them on the efforts being made to rescue the abducted children .

It was gathered that 10 days after the children were abducted, the parents were yet to get any tangible report on the safety of their children.

One of the parents, who spoke with the Sunday Tribune, under the condition of anonymity said “we heard that the school will resume on Monday, but many parents have threatened not to allow their children to return.”

She added that “the government and the school have not done any tangible thing about the security situation in the school .That is why many parents will not allow their children to resume academic activities at the school .”

The woman also added that “what is even worse is that the government has abandoned us. They have not called us for a meeting on how to rescue our children .

“They told us that the police are on top of the situation but we (the parents) don’t even have any idea of the situation with our children” the woman added.

She also added that “it appears that everybody has abandoned us. Nobody is talking to us. It is just the kidnappers that have been callings us.

“Now they have reduced the money to one hundred million naira but where do we get that kind of money from? If we have that kind of money, our children would not be in that school,” she added .

The mother of another abducted student, while pleading, said: “the kidnappers should consider us. They should know that the government is not ready to pay that kind of money. We want our children back”.

Sunday Tribune gathered that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has directed the Intelligence Response Team to join the operation to rescue the students .