FILE PHOTO: Bandits

For Bethel Kaduna Baptist students’ kidnappers, food is one of the items that will make them not cause maximum damage.
This was revealed by Wakili Madugu, Vice-Principal of the school, during an interview on Nigeria Info Abuja 95.1fm on Thursday which was monitored by The PUNCH.
In his words: “They said we should bring 10 bags of imported rice, 20 bags of local rice, 20 bags of beans and then 10 cartons of Maggi (seasoning) and then 10 kegs of oil as well as two bags of salt. These were the items they demanded.”
Madugu added, “The school had no more food because we were preparing to close the school in less than four days. So, the food items were not up to what they (abductors) were demanding. So, we sought assistance from some of the parents and we did our best.

“As of today, we have nine bags of rice, one sack of beans, two cartons of Maggi (seasoning), two kegs of palm oil and a bag of salt. They told me to bring the items yesterday (Wednesday) and so I called them around 7pm and they asked me how far.

“I told them this is what we have on hand and they started insulting me, threatening me and they switched off the phone. That means what I have is not enough.”
On what efforts the school had made to ensure that students were not abducted, Madugu, according to the report, said members of the Joint Task Force “had been guarding the school and they actually engaged the bandits in a gun duel on Tuesday but they were overpowered by the superior fire power of the assailants.” He added that the bandits “did not come in vehicles but actually marched the students out of the school.”