President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the acting Inspector-General of Police Hafiz A. Ringim and heads of other security agencies in the country to take all necessary steps to rescue the children abducted in Abia State on Monday and return them safely to their parents.
The order came a day after the kidnapping of 15 nursery and primary pupils near Aba, Abia State. The kidnapers are said to be demanding a N20 million ransom. The President urged the parents and relatives of the children to remain calm and assured them that the Federal Government would do everything possible to apprehend the kidnappers and bring these incidents to an end as soon as possible.
The kidnappers had hijacked a school bus in Abia state and kidnapped 15 youngsters, police said.
The incident occurred early on Monday while the nursery and primary students were being driven to the Abayi International School in Aba, Abia state police spokesman Geoffrey Ogbonna told Reuters.
“The 15 students were being conveyed to school by the driver and the teacher that normally accompanies them when they were abducted,” Ogbonna said.
“The kidnappers are demanding a ransom from the proprietress of the school. This is the first time schoolchildren have been kidnapped in Abia State. It is quite unfortunate.”
Meanwhile, acting Inspector-General Ringim said yesterday that competent police officers have been deployed to Abia State to rescue the school children.
He told newsmen in Abuja that the police would ensure that the case received urgent attention.
The children were kidnapped by unknown gunmen when the bus conveying them to school was attacked. The families of the children were later contacted by their captors and asked to pay N20 million ransom.
Ringim said, ``We have received the report that the children were kidnapped when the bus conveying them to school was attacked. We have already deployed some police officers and men to Abate police have also deployed the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) to the state for quick intervention.
“There is no role anybody can play to turn the situation over within one, two or three days.
“We are doing the best we can, going by the training and leadership capability of our men, to ensure that the situation is brought under control.
“We have capable and competent men to do the job. In the shortest possible time, the situation will be turned around.’’
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