Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has said that 137 schoolchildren were abducted from Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of the state and not 287.
Governor Sani stated this in an interview on a Channels Television programme: “Sunday Politics,” on Sunday.
The governor said all the schoolchildren abducted by bandits have been rescued by the military in collaboration with local authorities from neighbouring Zamfara State.
Recall that the schoolchildren were abducted from LEA Primary School and Government Secondary School, Kuriga about four weeks ago.
The Defence Headquarters also confirmed the rescue operation on Saturday, saying a total of 137 students were rescued.
Sani said: “I don’t want to join issues with anyone in terms of numbers.
“What is more important to me is the safe return of the children.
“Today, I am happy that they are back safely, in high spirits, but those numbers were just figments of some people’s imagination.
“Today, I met with the families of the children and they confirmed to me that the numbers given by the military are the correct numbers.”
Governor Sani lamented that a teacher who was kidnapped alongside the pupils couldn’t make it out alive as he developed some complications while in captivity.
He commiserated with the family of the deceased teacher and consoled the families of the released schoolchildren.
He said: “It’s only one person that has not returned and that is the teacher.
…
“That is the fact of the matter, but all of the 137 children are safely back.
“We had the unfortunate incident that the teacher couldn’t make it because he had some complications; he was sick – that was the report we got from the military and the security agencies but the rest of the children, all of them are back with us.”
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