The parents of the abducted students from Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna are puzzled and powerless in the face of their children’s continuing abduction at the hands of their kidnappers.

As previously reported, robbers attacked and seized 121 pupils from the Bethel Baptist High School in Damishi, Kaduna during the early morning hours of Monday, July 5, 2021.

Some pupils at the school have reclaimed their freedom, while others have fled and another group has been released due to health concerns.

Parents of abducted Bethel Baptist students are experiencing increased worry since kidnappers only demand food from them.

According to reliable sources, more than 80 children are still in the possession of their kidnappers, with parents having spent approximately N60 million as ransom to secure the release of some of the students.

However, in an interview with Reuters, the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. John Joseph Hayab, explained that the bandits are now demanding N1 million from each parent of the 80 remaining students under their care, for a total of N80 million in ransom to secure their release.

One of the parents of the abducted students stated that it is the parents of the school who are bearing the brunt of the student abductions.

In another interview, a parent of one of the recently released students stated that he and other parents went through a lot before they were able to afford the requests of their captors in exchange for the freedom of their children.

“I had to sell our family farm and other valuable assets at our disposal. Even one of my sons, who is in the university, had to contribute his tuition fee to see that his younger brother regained freedom”, he said.

Meanwhile, the state administration led by Nasir El-Rufai has made it very clear that they will not pay any form of ransom to kidnappers.

13 schools that were regarded vulnerable to kidnapping attacks have been closed down temporally by the state administration to prevent such schools from being targeted by bandits.