It has been confirmed that 121 students were abducted from Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi, in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Monday.
The president of the Baptist Conference, Ishaya Jangado, told journalists on Tuesday after a meeting with parents of the abducted students, that the school was able to confirm that 121 of the students are still in captivity because they “had the privilege of speaking with a few of them”.
He also disclosed that 28 students were rescued on Monday after a duel between security agents and the bandits.
Although he told journalists that the abductors were yet to make any demand, Punch was able to gather that the abductors later asked for food items such as rice, beans, seasoning and oil to feed the students.
Jangado said, “For now, we know that we have 154 students in the school hostel and yesterday (Monday) after the exchange of fire between the soldiers and the bandits, we came to the school and recovered 28 students; some of them were hit in many places. In the course of being taken away, some of them escaped and they came back to the school.
“So, the total number of students we recovered yesterday (Monday) was 28 and today (Tuesday), by the grace of God, we got a call from the bandits and they assured us that our children are well and doing okay.
“In fact, we had the privilege of speaking with a few of them. They counted themselves in the jungle and they gave us information that they were 121, and when we put the number together with what we have recovered, we discovered that the number is exactly the same as the number of students we have in the hostel.”
