Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has said that it does not matter whether ransom was paid or not to terrorists for the release of 137 schoolchildren kidnapped in the state.
Governor Sani said this on Sunday night while speaking on Channel Television’s Sunday Politics.
The governor said the important thing was that the government had been able to rescue all the abducted schoolchildren unhurt.
Bellnews reported on Sunday that the terrorists had released 137 pupils from LEA Primary School and Government Secondary School, Kuriga in the Chikun Local Government Area of the state.
The schoolchildren, aged five to 18, were abducted on March 7 and Governor Sani and the Defence Headquarters confirmed their release in a statement on Saturday.
The statement did not explain how the students were released. The governor, however, commended President Bola Tinubu and the security forces for their efforts in securing the release of the children.
However, there were rumours that the government paid ransom to the kidnappers for the release of the schoolchildren, especially as President Bola Tinubu said last week that his administration would not pay a dime to kidnappers.
Regarding the allegation, Sani said, “What is more important today is that our children are back home. Most of those permutations are not necessary. If your child is kidnapped, will you be sitting down and talking about how he was released?
“For me, what is more important is that those children are back home. Their parents are extremely happy and what is important to them is to reunite with their children.
“But some people who have no business with the situation are the ones coming out with some irresponsible permutations about whether ransom is being paid, whether someone had gone into the kinetic or non-kinetic approach.
“What is important to us in Kaduna is that the children are back home.”
He said that the government handled the schoolchildren’s abduction discreetly.
He said, “We handled the situation very discreetly. We tried as much as possible not to jeopardise the lives of the innocent children. Some people at some point wanted to poiliticise the whole incident.”
Governor Sani also said that contrary to reports, 137 and not 287 schoolchildren were abducted on March 7, 2024, in the state.