The armed bandits who abducted about 150 pupils of the Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School located in Tegina town, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, have reportedly raised their ransom to N200million.
The bandits had initially requested for the sum of N110m ransom in order to secure the release of the pupils.
This was confirmed by the headmaster of the school, Mr Abubakar Alhassan.
The New Diplomat had reported that Alhassan during an interview session with Arise TV disclosed that the armed bandits have requested for N110 million ransom to secure the release of the abducted pupils.
According to Alhassan, the armed bandits reached him via telephone call to request for the ransom. He further revealed that the bandits had initially requested for N310 million but after he negotiated with them it was reduced to N110 million.
However, according to reports, the bandits were said to have disregarded the initial agreement as they have reportedly increase the ransom to N200m.
Mallam Ali Mohammed, a Tipper Driver and a father of five of the abductees confirmed this development to an online medium. Mohammed was quoted to have disclosed that the bandits issued serious threats to the parents of the abducted pupils should they fail to pay the N200m ransom.
Recall that the armed bandits had stormed the Islamiyya school with various sophisticated weapons on Sunday, abducting scores of pupils who were attending Islamic lectures.
According to reports, the armed bandits came in about 25 motorcycles. He also stated that the bandits started shooting sporadically into the air to scare residents and security agencies away from the premises of the school.
The New Diplomat had also reported that the headmaster of the school confirmed that the bandits have been beating them, adding that some of the pupils’ legs have been damaged in the process.
