Renowned Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, has advised the Federal Government not to take the threat of kidnappers of students of Greenfield University, Kaduna state lightly.
Gumi, who stated this in an interview with ThePunch, said the Central Bank of Nigeria should pay the N100m ransom being demanded by the abductors.
It would be recalled that on Monday, one of the bandits, Sani Jalingo, in an interview with the Hausa service of Voice of America, demanded N100m and 10 motorcycles for the students to be freed.
He threatened that the failure of the Kaduna State Government or families of the students to meet the demands by Tuesday (yesterday), would lead to the killing of the abductees.
Read Also: Bandits Threaten To Kill 17 Greenfield Students If N100m Ransom Is Not Paid
Gumi lamented that his efforts, which had been yielding fruits, were not being appreciated by the government.
He said;
The money they are asking for is too much; if I give you that money, you cannot run away with it. Nobody can run. So, why not give them the money, they release the boys and then we pursue them and get our money back and do what is necessary; it is simple logic. So, bring the money from the central bank. How can they move that money? We should not be stupid.
The cleric stressed;
These people are getting infiltrated; Boko Haram is getting close and they don’t respect the clergy. I need support to get them inoculated against the infiltration of these ideologies, whether Boko Haram or Ansaru, whatever it is. We need to shield them because they are naïve. If there is too much pressure on them, and they see help from Boko Haram, who are richer and have more weapons, it is going to consume everybody.
The threat from the bandits follows the killing of five of the students, leaving 17 others in captivity, after they were abducted from the institution on April 20, 2021.
Read Also: Breaking: Two More Abducted Students Of Greenfield University Found Dead – Official
However, one of the abducted students was released by the bandits on Tuesday, after his parents privately negotiated.
According to ChannelsTV, mother of the student, Lauritta Attahiru confirmed the release of her son on Tuesday but refused to give details of how her son was released and whether a ransom was paid or not.
Read Also: Bandits Reportedly Release One Abducted Greenfield University Student
As of the moment, tensions are high as many Nigerians awaits if the bandits will stay true to their threats.
