Bandits release last two FGC Birnin Yauri schoolgirls
FGC Yauri students
The two remaining girls abducted from Federal Government College (FGC), Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, have been released after 707 days in captivity.
They were set free in the early hours of yesterday.
The girls, Faida Sani Kaoje and Safiya Idris, were released, following intensive negotiations by a committee set up by families and well-wishers to dialogue with the bandits.
The Guardian learnt that a notorious bandit kingpin, Dogo Gide, had insisted the Kebbi State Government meet some conditions before the girls could be released.
Recall that on April 22, 2023, four female students and two babies were released after payment of a ransom to Gide. Also, on May 7, the abductors freed three other girls: Elizabeth Ogechi Nwafor, Esther Sunday and Aliya Abubakar.
Parents and other concerned persons had raised money and paid a ransom for the girls’ freedom, after the state government expressed reluctance to meet the bandits’ demands.
The parents had pleaded with Nigerians to assist them with the financial requirements needed to secure release of the girls.
In an open letter, in January 2023, the ‘Committee of Parents of 11 Abducted Students of FGC Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, Nigeria’ passionately solicited assistance towards raising a N100 million ransom.
The 11 students were kidnapped, when the bandits invaded their school on June 17, 2021.
In November, last year, The Guardian learnt that some of the girls had become teenage mothers, while about four others were pregnant.
