BIRNIN YAURI, Nigeria – The protracted ordeal of the final two kidnapped students from the Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, concluded on Thursday, May 25, 2023 after 707 days in captivity. Faida Sani Kaoje and Safiya Idris, the remaining female students, have finally regained their freedom from the bandits who held them captive.
According to PRNigeria, the girls’ release comes following intensive negotiations by a special committee composed of their families and wellwishers, who engaged in dialogue with the bandits’ leadership.
Their freedom comes barely four days to the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure. A former military head of state, Buhari rode in to office promising security and an end to Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group.
The notorious bandit kingpin, Dogo Gide, had asserted that specific conditions from the Kebbi State Government must be satisfied before he would agree to release the girls.
This incident recalls April 22, 2023, when four Yauri female students and their two babies were released after a significant ransom was paid to Dogo Gide. Subsequently, on May 7, three more girls, Elizabeth Ogechi Nwafor, Esther Sunday, and Aliya Abubakar, were also freed by their captors.
The release occurred after parents and other stakeholders amassed a substantial ransom when the Kebbi State Government proved hesitant to comply with the bandits’ demands.
“In their desperation, the parents pleaded with Nigerians for financial aid to rescue their children from their captors,” said Salim Ka’oje, Chairman of the Committee of Parents.
In January 2023, the Committee of Parents of 11 Abducted Students of F.G.C Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, Nigeria, appealed to all Nigerians for financial assistance. They sought to raise N100 million as ransom for their wards. The committee stressed that the girls, aged between 12-16 years, had been in the abductors’ custody for roughly 20 months.
“…And the abductors are demanding the sum of N100 million before they release the girls,” stated Mr. Daniel Alkali, Secretary of the ‘Committee of Parents.
On June 17, 2021, bandits stormed the school, abducting 11 students. In November of the following year that some of the girls had become teenage mothers, while about four others were pregnant.
PRNigeria has been unable to independently verify if the final ransom paid by the parents matched the 100 million naira demanded by the bandits. Despite this, the release of the final two students marks the end of an agonizing period for the families and the entire school community.
