Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said bandits have been convinced not to kill the remaining students of Greenfield University, Kaduna.
Recall that the bandits had threatened to kill the students in captivity if their parents fail to pay a N100 million and ransom in addition to 10 motorcycles.
Speaking on Thursday when parents of the recently freed students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State, visited him, the cleric said negotiation was ongoing for the release of the students of the privately-owned university.
He said the release of Afaka students has shown optimism in negotiation process, recalling the role he and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo played before the captives were freed.
“The talk with the Greenfield University students’ abductors is also going on. You know they threatened to kill all of them after a particular deadline but after talking to them, they are now lowering their bar.
“So, we thankful they have stopped killing. And we are still negotiating with them. I hope this Afaka case will also encourage to know that there is hope in negotiation and release the children.”
He said the bandits, while attacking the government, attacked government institutions and “innocent children.”
“The role myself and former President Olusegun Obasanjo played in the release of the 27 Afaka students is the role of mediators because the fight is not between us and them but between the bandits and the government.
“What we understand is that these people are trying to attack the government by attacking the government institutions and take innocent children.
“Having understood that we came to the conclusion that this is not a hopeless situation and that we can really go in and negotiate for the release of these children, which we did after so many ups and downs.
“But in the long run, a conclusion was reached and these children are out. So, we are happy that, all of them are out and none was killed.”
