TERRORISTS have demanded N350 million to free kidnapped students and staff of the College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Bakura, Zamfara State.
Provost of the college Habibu Mainasara confirmed this to newsmen in a statement on Tuesday.
Mainasara, who had been kidnapped by terrorists in the past, said a total of 20 people were abducted, including 15 students, four staff members and a driver.
The terrorists had carried out the kidnap in a daring attack that led to the death of four people, including an officer of the Nigerian Police Force, in the late hours of Sunday.
The state police command, in a statement yesterday, said it was on the trail of the terrorists to free the victims and reunite them with their families.
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle, in a statement signed by his spokesman Yusuf Gusau on Monday, said government was making efforts to secure the release of the victims.
Matawalle, who condemned the attack, directed the security operatives in the state to intensify efforts and rescue all the abductees, promising to do everything humanly possible to rescue them unhurt.
He said the state government had continued to strengthen efforts of providing security to all schools across the state since the abduction of the schoolgirls in Jangebe.
He commended the immediate action of the security agencies to launch search and rescue strategies to ensure the safe return of the abducted students and staff still in captivity.
The governor also made an appeal to residents of the state to remain calm, saying the government was taking all the necessary steps to restore normalcy in the area.
He, however, urged inhabitants to cooperate with the security agencies deployed in the area by providing them with useful information that could lead to the rescue of the victims.
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