Gunmen Who Kidnapped 287 Kaduna School Children Say They Will Kill Them All If $622,000 Ransom Not Paid

The gunmen who abducted 287 schoolchildren in Nigeria threaten to kill every one of them if the $622,000 ransom is not paid.

A member of the local community informed CNN on Wednesday that gunmen who abducted at least 287 schoolchildren in Nigeria last Thursday had demanded a ransom of one billion naira ($621,848) and threatened to kill all of the youngsters if their demands are not met.

“They called me from a hidden number yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon at around 16 minutes past 12, and demanded 1 billion naira ($621,848) as a ransom for the students. They said [the ultimatum] will only last for three weeks or 20 days from the date they kidnapped the children and if there's no action from the government, they will kill all of them,” said Aminu Jibril, a resident of Kuriga village, in Kaduna state, where the school is located.

The children were kidnapped on March 7.

According to Jibril, who spoke with CNN, the abductors said that the kidnapping was “a way of getting back at the government and security agencies for killing their gang members.”

The Kuriga community member stated he thought the abductors obtained his phone number from the junior secondary school head, who was also taken hostage with the pupils.

According to state police spokesman Mansur Hassan, who spoke to CNN on Friday, around 300 kids were abducted early on Thursday morning by armed bandits riding motorbikes into Kuriga village in Kaduna's Chikun district's LEA Primary and Secondary School.

While 287 of the students were freed, several of them were still held captive by the abductors. The remaining ones come from secondary schools, with about 100 coming from primary schools.

Read: No Money Will Be Offered As Ransom To Free Kidnapped Children — Tinubu

In a statement released on Thursday, Kaduna Governor Uba Sani stated that his administration was “doing everything possible to ensure the safe return of the pupils and students.”

Sani added that a community member who confronted the kidnappers during the assault died.

Kaduna state, which shares a southwest border with Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, has struggled with a spate of kidnappings for ransom by bandits and other mass abductions in recent years, including one in the neighborhood of the LEA Primary and Secondary School.