Kaduna abduction: Minister calls for unconditional release of students, principal

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has called for safe and unconditional release of over 287 students and their principal abducted in Kaduna State.
Mamman, who said this on Friday
at a news conference in Abuja, described the attack as barbaric and heinous.
The minister also expressed his willingness to visit the scene of the incident.
He said that the Ministry was in touch with the Kaduna State Government, promising that the Federal Government would ensure safety of schools across the country under the Safe School Initiative.
“It is a very sad day for the country. And we appeal to the security agencies to do everything possible including Kaduna State Government to rescue and bring back these young ones and their teachers unarmed.
“We will be working with the security agencies to ensure that we bring to end this type of thing under the Safe School project of the federal government.
“We sincerely hope these young ones are brought back even before the Ramadan season starts. Our brothers and sisters are already observing the Lent. So, we commit them to prayers to the Almighty to protect them and bring them back safely.
“We are terribly concerned about this development. And we make appropriate appeal to those whose responsibilities are to bring back our children to work as quickly as possible so that these children are returned back to their homes and back to school safely,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that about 287 pupils and teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA primary school at Kuriga, Kaduna State were abducted by bandits on Thursday, triggering national outrage.
The bandits reportedly invaded the Kuriga area of the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, shooting at their victims before taking away the pupils and teachers from both schools. (NAN)