Kaduna, Nigeria — The western eye is slowly turning to the complex pains of Nigeria, but for Abigail Philip’s family, the big news is that “Mom is back home”.
A widow, mother of five, and Matron of the Bethel Baptist High School Academy, Mrs. Philip spent 92 days as a kidnapped hostage with 117 students in a forest hell near the city of Kaduna.
“She was trapped in a bush with her children to help the bandits calm and care for them,” said a woman who asked for anonymity. “She was still in a very anxious physical and mental condition and had to be taken to a place where she could rest properly and receive treatment,” sources added.
After three months of detention of armed Fula Muslim thieves, another batch of five students from the Academy in Damisi, Chikun Local Government Area (LGA) in Kaduna, southern Nigeria, is released. School management confirmed in a statement on Friday. Philip and his children were struck by guns and pushed out of bed by dozens of men with AK47 rifles early in July 5.
This is the number of Bethel Academy students released after various forms of ransom payments by traumatized parents and school owner Nigeria Baptist Convention (NBC), according to a statement to the press since the kidnapping. Brings to 117 people.
War correspondent Lara Logan mentioned the abduction of the Bethel Baptist Academy in her 38-minute special report on the Nigerian crisis on Fox News’ Fox Nation streaming service in late September.Documentary Excerpt by segment On the YouTube channel of ICON PSJ Media. In Logan’s analysis, thousands of Fula bandit gangs share a common goal with the ISIS rebellion known as Boko Haram, the complete Islamization of Nigeria.
Another ten Bethel students remain trapped in the forest, according to Rev. Joseph Hayab, president of the Kaduna State Branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
“They still refused to release all the remaining 10 hostages,” Hayab told the Epoch Times in an interview on October 9. Help channel. The only good news is that the kids are alive, “he said.
The ransom paid to the kidnapper is unknown. Hayab said he needed to rush to pay an additional ransom on Thursday, October 7, 2021, but did not mention the amount.
Hayab said some students were also able to escape from their prisoners at various times.
In a brief statement on October 8, 2021, Rev. Akanji Israel, President of the Baptist Church in Nigeria, confirmed the release of the student and Matron Philip, saying: Five and six Matrons of Bethel Baptist High School were released on the evening of October 8. I thank God and believe that the remaining four students will be released. Thank you for your prayers and support. “
“They were to release all students on Saturday, October 2, 2021, based on an agreement with them,” Hayab said. “But these people aren’t honorable because they always shift when an agreement is reached.”
“They may have changed their minds as the schoolgirls managed to escape that Saturday morning. [Oct 2] And that made them seriously angry, “he said. According to Hayab, the bandits stopped regular contact with negotiators for five days after the girl escaped.
“We united her into her family,” Hayab added.
“Some other students have fled at different times, but for safety reasons we will add them to the liberated students,” he said.
The Epoch Times reported on July 8 how 15 kidnapped students made a bold departure from the kidnappers.
“We panicked and continued to pray that the worst happened to the rest of the POWs,” he said. “Then they contacted Thursday and explained that the hostages had to be moved to a hideout where they found an appropriate and reliable telephone network.”
In the last week of September, the Kaduna state government ordered the suspension of all telephone network services to some of the most affected counties.
Samuel Alwan, Kaduna State Interior and Interior Commissioner, said the controversial directive aims to block communication between violent criminals in Bush and their informants and collaborators outside the camp. I explained that.
Christian-owned schools have been hit by a wave of mass kidnappings, including the killing of hostages, since late 2019.
October 3, 2019, armed Fula armed groups Aggression Kakaudage, a sculptor’s college in the Chikun Municipal Association (LGA), on the outskirts of the Kaduna metropolitan area, has eliminated six teenage students and two staff. They were later released after paying a private ransom two weeks later. The Fula are a Muslim tribe involved in the kidnapping and violence of Nigerian Christians.
On March 11, 2021, armed men, later identified as Fula bandits, appeared spectacular. Invasion With a majority of Christian students at Afaka’s Federal Forestry School in Igabi LGA, Kaduna, the school is just a quarter mile from the barracks of the Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA). The invaders took away 39 students, only two of whom were not Christians.
The last student was released 55 days later.
The exact ransom paid has not been confirmed, but the kidnapper report Requested $ 840,000 (500 million won) for student freedom.
Later there was anger of the people video Infection with the virus indicated that abducted Afaka forestry students were tortured under subhuman conditions.
One month after the abduction of Afaka, on April 21, 2021, armed Fula Muslim bandits Aggression Greenfield University, about 12 miles from the city of Kaduna, has kidnapped 23 students, all Christian.
Five students were killed to drive the ruthlessness of the kidnappers and the seriousness of their demand for huge ransoms home. Reportedly 1.4 million dollars (800 million won).
The rest is finally Freely set 39 days after traumatic negotiations between parents and college management.
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Luka Binniyat is a journalist, writer and community mobilizer. Binniyat is a spokesman for Southern Kaduna Peoples (SOKAPU). Follow him on Twitter @Kindusluka