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Kidnappers Of 287 Kaduna Sch Children Demand N1bn Ransom, Threaten To Kill All If…

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Bandits who kidnapped at least 287 school children in Nigeria last Thursday have demanded a ransom of 1 billion naira ($621,848) and threatened to kill all of the students if their demands are not met, a member of the local community told CNN on Wednesday.

“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.

Jibril also told CNN that the perpetrators said the kidnapping was “a way of getting back at the government and security agencies for killing their gang members.”

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The member of the Kuriga community said he believed the kidnappers got his number from the head of the school’s junior secondary section, who was kidnapped alongside the students.
More than 300 students were taken early Thursday morning by armed bandits on motorcycles who stormed the LEA Primary and Secondary School in Kuriga village, in Kaduna’s Chikun district, the state’s police spokesman Mansur Hassan told CNN on Friday.

Some of the students were rescued but 287 of them remain with the kidnappers. About 100 of them are from the primary school and the rest from the secondary school.

The Kaduna Governor Uba Sani said in a statement Thursday that his government was “doing everything possible to ensure the safe return of the pupils and students.”

Sani also said a member of the community who confronted the abductors during the attack was killed.

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Kaduna state, which borders the Nigerian capital Abuja to the southwest, has grappled with recurring incidents of kidnappings for ransom by bandits and has witnessed several mass abductions in recent years, including in the district where the LEA Primary and Secondary School is located.
In 2021, at least 140 students were kidnapped by armed men from a private secondary school.

The incident came just months after around 20 students from a private university in Chikun’s Kasarami village were abducted by gunmen.

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Danger averted as police rescued six kids from collapsed building

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The Lagos State Police Command has rescued six children from a building within an estate in the Ejigbo area of the state.

The command’s spokesperson, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this to newsmen on Saturday in Lagos.

He said that on Tuesday at about 12p.m., the police received information that six children were staying alone in a building.

‘The case was transferred from the Ejigbo Police Station to the Gender Unit in Ikeja after reports indicated that the children were left alone in a residential house.

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“The children, aged between seven and 13 years, have been rescued and are currently in a protective shelter through the Ministry of Youth and Social Development,’ he said.

Hundeyin said initial findings revealed that their mother was currently abroad for medical treatment and had left them in the care of a caregiver.

The spokesperson added that efforts were underway to contact their mother, and investigations were ongoing to gather more details about the case.

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Fire engulfs MTN office in Oyo

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An MTN booster station at the University of Ibadan (UI) in Oyo State was reportedly engulfed in flames on Saturday.

The fire, attributed to an electrical surge, erupted within the Faculty of Nursing.

According to reports, the incident took place in the early morning hours, around 4 a.m., and resulted in significant damage to the Mikano electrical generator, the control board, and other telecommunications devices at the booster station.

The state capital, Special Adviser on Fire Services Reform to Governor Seyi Makinde, and Chairman of the State Fire Services Agency, Moroof Akinwande confirmed the incident.

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He said, “The state Fire Service’s prompt response doused the fire at the MTN booster station beside the Faculty of Nursing, University of Ibadan.

“The fire personnel, led by ACFS Olubunmi, were promptly deployed to the scene and arrived on time.

“On arrival, we met the Mikano electrical generator and board on fire. We quickly joined hands with the university’s fire marshals, and the fire was extinguished completely. The fire was caused by an electrical surge”, he explained.

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Insecurity! Gunmen invade church, slash pastor’s 2 fingers

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Heavily armed gunmen reportedly stormed Elyon Paradise Ministry Church, shooting Pastor Divine Omodia and abducting six members of the congregation in Asagba Ogwashi, near Ogwashi-Uku Polytechnic, Aniocha south local government area of Delta State.

The attack, which took place on February 21, 2025, at approximately 10:30pm., saw the assailants round up the church premises before shooting the pastor and severing two of his fingers, causing severe blood loss.

One of the Pastors, Pastor Steve Victor Onuchukwu, who spoke revealed that since the attack, the kidnappers have not contacted the church or the victims’ families to demand ransom.

“The matter has been reported to the police, but so far, no tangible results have been achieved,” Onuchukwu stated.

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“One security agency assured me they are working around the clock to secure the victims’ release, but we have no concrete updates yet.”

Concerns continue to mount over Pastor Omodia’s condition, as he remains in critical care at an undisclosed hospital.

According to Onuchukwu, medical personnel are making efforts to stabilize him.

“We rushed him to the hospital immediately, and he is currently in the operating theatre, where doctors are doing everything possible to save his life,” he said.

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Meanwhile, when contacted for a statement, Delta State Police Command spokesperson Bright Edafe claimed no official report of the incident had been made to law enforcement.

“I am not aware of any such report because nobody has informed us about it,” Edafe stated.

The attack has heightened concerns over security in the region, with residents and church members demanding swift action to locate the kidnapped victims and bring the perpetrators to justice.

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