Varsity Students Kidnap: Greenfield University Breaks Silence, Urges Bandits To Spare The Lives Of Victims
The Oasis Reporters
April 24, 2021
By Mike Odeh James, Kaduna
Additional reporting by Greg Abolo.
Management of Greenfield University, in Kaduna, North West Nigeria, has appealed to the bandits to spare the lives of staff and students of the institution who were kidnapped on Tuesday night .
A press release signed by the registrar of the school, Mr. Bashir Muhammad, confirmed that twenty students and three staff of the institution were kidnapped on that fateful night.
Mr Bashir further stated that while efforts to secure the release of the staff and students were ongoing, news filtered in that the bandits have killed three of the students.
We mourn Tirnom Yohanna, Precious Nwakacha & Sadiq Muazu, killed in d #GreenfieldAbductions of April 22.
Like we mourned Benjamin Habila killed in d #KagaraAbductions of Feb 17.
May Allah have mercy on their innocent souls and may their memory be a blessing to their families.— Dr Bello Salihu بيللؤ سالح۔ (@bellosaleh) April 24, 2021
The statement disclosed the bandits executed two female and one male students.
The management pleaded with the bandits to stop further killings of the staff and students of the varsity even as it appeals to the public to lend their voices in pleading with the kidnappers to release their victims.
In the same vein, University authorities have commended the Kaduna State Government for standing by them in “these trying times” .
The press statement issued by the institution reads thus:
“GREENFIELD UNIVERSITY KADUNA
PRESS STATEMENT
We are all aware of the incidence which occurred at Greenfield University on Tuesday 20th April, 2021 by 8:15pm whereby some staff and students of our institution were abducted.
Efforts are being made to secure the release of these staff and students which have not yielded the desired results.
Even so, very sad news reaching us today is that three of the students were killed and their bodies
were found near the university.
The casualties were one male and two female students.
Furthermore a ransom of 800 million Naira has been demanded for our abducted staff and students.
We are at this point calling on the government and people of goodwill who can be of assistance to come to our aid as the situation is becoming overwhelming.
The management of Greenfield University appreciates the concerns of the government of Kaduna State, led by Malam Nasir el-Rufai and commends steps taken so far in ensuring the safe return of those abducted.
Finally, we appeal to those in custody of our staff and students to spare their lives.
Bashir Muhammad
Registrar”.
Greenfield University is amongst the newest private universities sited in the northern part of Nigeria, a region that hosts Africa’s largest pool of out of school children.
The region is overburdened with the issues of occasional sparks of opulence in the midst of general abject poverty where development index ranks extremely low.
Islamist insurgency and banditry are often reported and schools have been the target of kidnap for ransom gangs across the vast arid region, with most children living outside of their homes as they more often than not, sleep on empty stomachs.
