Police arrest ‘kidnappers’ of Kaduna Baptist school students

Three suspected kidnappers of students of Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi, Kaduna, have been arrested.

Frank Mba, police spokesperson, said the three suspects are part of the 25-man gang that kidnapped the students.

He said the police has obtained sufficient intelligence to facilitate the arrest of other members of the gang.

Addressing journalists on Thursday at the force headquarters, Abuja, the police spokesperson said 47 other suspects were arrested for various offences, including murder, kidnapping, cattle rustling, armed robbery and car theft.

A total of 121 students were abducted from their hostels when bandits invaded Bethel Baptist High School on July 5.

TheCable had on July 12 reported that Abraham Aniya, one of the students, was rescued by security operatives alongside two other persons who were kidnapped along Kaduna-Kachia road.

Two other students escaped on July 20 when they were tasked to go and fetch firewood from a nearby forest.

The bandits had subsequently said the students would be released in batches.

The first set of 28 students was released on July 25 while two more batches were released on August 27 and September 18.

Following the release of the latest batch, 21 students remain in captivity.

Although Israel Akanji, president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), had said no ransom will be paid to secure the students’ release, TheCable understands that the bandits received money to set them free.