Having exhausted their patience while waiting for the government’s intervention, parents of the remaining 29 abducted students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State have decided to take independent measures for the release of their children.
Consequently, they plan to stage a protest at the National Assembly if by midnight of Thursday April 29, the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), which supervises the college, failed to release their children.
Ten of 39 students abducted have been released by the abductors in two batches of five.
The bandits on Tuesday released another video of the students, where some of them pleaded with the government and their parents to pay their ransom, saying that most of them were already ill in captivity.
In a statement by their chairman, Usman Abdullahi, the parents said they were depressed by the continued captivity of their children, who were severely maltreated by their abductors.
The parents after a meeting on April 26, gave FRIN 72 hours, which expired midnight of yesterday within which to secure the release of the abductees.
“The Monday, April 26th meeting reviewed events from the first day of abduction of the students, on 11th March 2021, to date, beyond the release of 10 of the students, and noted that there is no sign whatsoever that anything is being done at any level to secure the release of the remaining 29 students.
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“The parents see no hope in sight for the release of their children. What stares at them now is depressing abandonment and neglect of the poor children.
“As at the afternoon of Thursday, April 29, there was no inkling of hope from any government quarters, suggesting any time for the release of the 29 remaining abductees.
“At the National Assembly, the aggrieved parents would seek the intervention of the federal parliamentarians to query the minister of environment whose ministry oversees the affairs of FRIN, which in turn oversees the affairs of the college where their children were abducted, over the continued captivity of the children.
“Since the 10 students were released in two batches of 5 each, the parents have been condemned to excruciating trauma over the continued captivity of their children, especially as they have been left to fight alone for the release of the children.
“The parents also expressed their outrage over the way the 10 released students are left to cater for themselves without any care whatsoever, especially in terms of medical checkup from any arm of government, as against the claim for such care by government.
“The parents of the 10 released students, who have vowed not to back out of the struggle for the release of the remaining 29, have had to go in and out of hospital to take further care of their children’s health at their own personal cost.
“This development is unacceptable as it shows abdication of responsibility by those in whose custody the students were before their abduction.
“Knowing the struggle, the parents of the 10 students so far released are going through to keep their children in good health and sound mind, the parents of the students still in captivity, while awaiting the release of their own children, demand compensation from FRIN for the students already released and a similar demand will be made for those that will be released later for their proposed rehabilitation.
“The parents wish to inform the general public that there has been a change in the leadership of the committee running thier affair with effect from today 28th April, 2021.”
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