The parents of the remaining 29 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna, have said they are running out of patience as their abducted children have been in captivity for close to two months.
The parents said they would stage a mass protest at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja to push the Nigerian government to take action and secure the release of their children.
Ten of the 39 students abducted on Tuesday, March 11, 2021 have been released by their abductors in two batches of five each.
The affected parents disclosed this in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman, Victims’ Parents Committee, Usman Abdullahi and Secretary, Catherine Y. Saleh on Friday.
According to the parents, they will stop at nothing to force the government to secure their children’s release.
They expressed displeasure at their children’s continued stay in captivity and lamented the suffering and maltreatment in the hands of the kidnappers.
They also expressed disappointment with the “devastating indifference of the Nigerian government to their plight”.
The statement noted that there was no hope in sight for the release of their children, considering the way and manner they have been “abandoned and neglected” by the government.
The parents explained that as at the afternoon of Thursday, April 29, there was no inkling of hope from any government quarters, suggesting any time for the release of the 29 remaining abductees.
The statement read, “Since the 10 students were released in two batches of five each, the parents have been condemned to excruciating trauma over the continued captivity of their children, especially as they have been left to fight alone for the release of the children without any iota of concern shown by the FRIN (Forest Research Institute of Nigeria) towards securing their release.
“This development is unacceptable as it shows abdication of responsibility by those in whose custody the students were before their abduction.”
“At the National Assembly, the aggrieved parents would seek the intervention of the federal lawmakers to query the Minister of Environment whose ministry oversees the affairs of FRIN, which in turn oversees the affairs of the College where their children were abducted, over the continued captivity of the children,” the statement said.
The parents also expressed their outrage over the way the 10 released students were left to cater for themselves without any care whatsoever, especially in terms of medical checkup from any arm of government, as against the claim for such care by the government.
“Knowing the struggle the parents of the 10 students so far released are going through to keep their children in good health and sound mind, the parents of the students still in captivity, while awaiting the release of their own children, demand compensation from FRIN for the students already released and a similar demand will be made for those that will be released later for their proposed rehabilitation,” the statement added.
