- But Muhammad Lawal Shehu, chief press secretary to Uba Sani, the state governor, denied the reports in a statement on Saturday
The Kaduna state government has denied reports that it has hired a private negotiator to facilitate the return of school children abducted in Kuriga community, Chikun LGA.
According to reports, a reliable source had mentioned the negotiator’s significant experience in handling multiple abduction cases with robbers.
The source said, “The military has begun combing the forests in search of the children kidnapped by the bandits. Security agents have cordoned off the area and they have started searching for the abducted pupils.
“The government is doing all it can for the speedy release of the abducted school pupils.
“The government has established contact and reached out to the bandits for negotiation through a popular bandits negotiator. The negotiator was the one who worked for the return of some of the students abducted some years back.”
But Muhammad Lawal Shehu, chief press secretary to Uba Sani, the state governor, denied the reports in a statement on Saturday.
“We wish to state categorically that the Kaduna State Government did not hire any private negotiator, neither are we contemplating make such a move… The Kaduna State Government has a clear policy on non-negotiation with terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements,”
“We urge members of the Press to be cautious in the way they craft and publicise their stories on security in order not to jeopardize the efforts of Government and security agencies in degrading criminal elements laying siege to our communitiescommunities,” he said.
On Thursday, Sani Abdullahi, a teacher at the Government Secondary School, Kuriga, said 287 students went missing after bandits attacked the community in the morning.
Abdullahi, who spoke when Sani visited the community after the incident, said bandits invaded the primary and secondary schools at about 8am.
The teacher said a member of the Kaduna State Vigilante Service (KADVS) was killed by the bandits when he attempted to confront them.“