Bandits on Sunday released a Chinese national, three students and a teacher from the scores of students and staff they abducted from the Federal Government College, Birnin-Yauri, Kebbi State, Northwest Nigeria, on June 17.
The attack was on Federal Government College, Birnin-Yauri was orchestrated by a well-known notorious bandit, Dogo Gide, who holds sway between Niger, Kebbi, Kaduna and Zamfara States.
A source said that “the released students were randomly picked; a female and two males. The teacher is also a male.”
He confirmed that the hostages were released through the intervention of negotiators working with Nigeria’s intelligence services, as part of a new back-channel negotiation with the bandits and they were handed over to an intermediary at Kotongoro, a village in the Mariga Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
While it was unclear when the Chinese man was abducted, it was however gathered that he was kidnapped in a party of three Chinese nationals working on a mining site in Niger State.
“They collected ransom but released only two of them. However, it appears that he decided to release the last one as he was becoming infirm from long incarceration, though he (Gide) had threatened to kill him if no more money was paid,” our source said.
The source, who is familiar with the process of the hostage release, said no money was paid to the bandits as Gide decided to release the students after pleas by persons close to him, and to show commitment to a new deal being discussed between the two sides.
This story first appeared in Daily Trust, https://dailytrust.com/exclusive-3-yauri-schoolgirls-expatriate-released-by-bandits