N100m: School of kidnapped pupils in Ekiti launches crowd-funding to pay victims’ ransom

Recall that six school pupils of Apostolic Faith Nursery and Primary School, alongside two teachers, the driver and the school bus conductor were waylaid by unknown gunmen and abducted on Monday evening at Eporo-Ekiti in Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

Vanguard stumbled on a statement signed by the Vice Principal of the school, Mr Gboje Oluwafemi, soliciting for funds from the public for the payment of ransom for the victims.

It reads, “The management of Apostolic Faith Group of schools Emure Ekiti is using this medium to seek for financial assistance for the release of 5 of our students and 4 staff member who were kidnapped on Monday 29th January, 2024.

“The kidnappers are insisting on 100 million naira ransom for their release. We will be grateful for your voluntary financial assistance. Thanks. For enquiry,call the vice principal of the school.

In a telephone conversation with Vanguard, Mr Gboje who confirmed the action of the school, stated that the kidnappers have called severally and they are insisting on N100 million.

On the state of the abducted children, he said, “the children are safe, some of them spoke with us and even the adult among the captives spoke with us , they usually give them phone to talk with us, after which they start flogging them and we could hear their cries and agony.

Asked if the community has been able to raise anything, he said, “ the community is raising their own, and they said the school too should go and raise some funds and the parents too and we would now put everything together, so that when they call again we would be able to tell them the amount of money we have on ground.

When reminded that there is a law against giving money to kidnappers, Gboje stated that “it is not that we are giving them money, we are just preparing for alternatives, we know that the Federal Government is making effort to effect the release of those children and others but we are just making plan B arrangement. We are supporting both the state and federal government efforts, it is not that we are giving them money.

On how the colleagues of the abducted children are feeling about the situation, he retorted that “ the National Association of Private Schools Owners, Emure Local Government Chapter had declared indefinite holidays pending the time those children are released from the kidnappers den. No private school is operating in the whole local government, its only the government school that are operating”.

However, sources in Eporo-Ekiti revealed that the School decided to resort to crowdfunding to when effort at raising the money was not working.

Vanguard gathered that the community and families of the victims were only able to raise a paltry sum of N450,000, a far cry from the N100m ransom being demanded by the kidnappers.

Vanguard learnt that seven of the ten kidnapped victims, which included six school pupils, two teachers, bus driver and his conductor were from Eporo-Ekti community in Emure Ekiti Local government Area of Ekiti State.