‘We’re having sleepless nights’ — parents of abducted Kaduna schoolgirls seek their release

Parents of the abducted female students of Prince Academy, Damba-Kasaya, Chikun local government area of Kaduna state, say they are having sleepless nights over their children in captivity.

The students who were preparing for their junior secondary school certificate examination were abducted on August 24, 2020.

The gunmen were said to have first raided houses in Damba-Kasaya community in Chikun LGA before heading to the school.

Some of the students reportedly escaped following the intervention of security personnel who pursued the hoodlums to the forest, but four of the students, and a female teacher were unlucky as they were whisked away by the gunmen.

Speaking on the development on Wednesday in Kaduna, a family member of one of the abducted students who craved anonymity, said the gunmen have not been communicating with the parents, noting that the parents have been having sleepless nights.

“We have been having sleepless nights over their whereabouts. We are deeply worried about the girls and their teacher. We are concerned about their safety,” he said.

“Right now we don’t have any information about them because the bandits have not been communicating. The kidnappers called once, that was after they abducted them.

“They called the parents to informed them that the girls are with them. Since then, there was no communication again. We have not heard anything from them.

“I am appealing to them to fear God, to have mercy on them and free them.”

Efforts to reach Mohammed Jalige, spokesman of the Kaduna state police command, for his reaction was unsuccessful as calls to his mobile phone line were not connecting.

Editor’s note: This picture was used for illustrative purposes