A parent, whose child was one of the students abducted from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka in Kaduna State, has revealed the role of a controversial Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gumi, in securing his release.

WUZUPNIGERIA reports that no fewer than 39 students were abducted by bandits from the school on March 11, 2021. As of the time of this report, at least 10 of them have regained freedom.

According to the parent, who spoke during an interview with Roots TV, she and other parents met with Gumi who introduced them to a Fulani man named Ahmed, adding that they coughed out ₦800,000 to the individual.

However, the unnamed parent revealed that the kidnappers were more interested in the ₦500 million ransom they demanded from the government.

But, the Nasir el-Rufai-led Kaduna State Government has vowed not to pay ransom to bandits without revealing an alternative means of securing the release of the students.

The Punch however reported that the aggrieved parents after running out of patience, staged a protest at the National Assembly on Tuesday as they called on the Federal Government led by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) to bring back their children.

“We kept going for meetings. They took us to Gumi’s house who said we should meet one Ahmed. I’ve forgotten the name. A Fulani man was invited, we contributed almost N800,000 to him but he said the money was just for transportation. Then I started crying and pleaded with him that I am a widow, training my boy to become my helper in the future but he said that was not his concern,” the parent said, adding they met with an unidentified Fulani man. “We kept begging him but he insisted that we must pay N500 million.”

Another parent also said, “The trauma is too much, I can hardly sleep. We are walking corpses. People see us as being alive but we are already dead. In the night, one cannot sleep, if you want to sleep you will be thinking about the condition of your child; if the child is dead, alive, eaten.

“They (kidnappers) were after the government paying that money– N500 million. Like me in particular, they kept calling me ‘Madam, go and talk to the government to pay the money. All I kept telling them was that I am a widow, I don’t have access to the government.

“Maybe if my husband were to be alive, he would know somebody who would help him to talk to the government. They kept calling me for almost two weeks and I told them the same thing.”