 You're welcome back to the breakfast on PLOS TV Africa. 27 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Afaka, Kaduna are now free after spending 55 days in captivity. There are among the 37 students abducted by gunmen who attacked the school on March 11th. 10 of the students had earlier been released and after their parents reportedly paid ransom. Her parents, whose two daughters were among those now free, is joining us on the phone from Kaduna. His name is Friday Sani. Good morning, Mrs Sani. Good morning. How was your night? Fine. Thank you. So congratulations to you. I remember the last time we spoke on the breakfast where, you know, basically talking about how your daughters were kidnapped, you know, just hearing from you, expressing all the pain and agony of, you know, that, that incident at that time. It's great news now. Congratulations again. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Can you actually confirm to us that your daughters were with you at home? Oh, my daughter, the first one, her name is Victor Sani. The second one is Rejoice Sani. If I, as I'm talking to you now, I, I am in the hospital, the police medical hospital here in Kaduna to see if I can see their face. I was lucky to see them briefly and I think they are in a stable condition. Information as to how they were released that you can share with us? Actually, you remember three days ago, we were in Abuja for a protest because we, we, the parents, we run out of patience. Apart from that, you know that sometimes they go chief of Lusiegoba, Sanjo and Sheikh Mohammed women lend their voice to the plight of our children and see to see how they can help to facilitate their release. Here we are today, we have them and that is all I could say for now. We're just informed. I, if I was on my way to the house from a meeting when I got a call that 27 of them were released and I have to stop by to check on the social media, where I also read it on the social media that 27 of them were released. So I somehow have become a little bit funny worried because we are guilty for 39. But when we have, when we confirm, we're told that there were 27 naturally and all of them were released. OK, well, what I'm asking is, you know, information like, do you know where they were dropped off, where they were picked up from? Who was the first person who heard that they were going to be set free? Can you share with us any information about all of what happened yesterday? I was trying to get the source of the information yesterday. And from what I read on the media, on the social media and online news, the news was broke by Deletros online. And when I tried to confirm, I was told that they were dropped somewhere around Kedende, somewhere in Gewa Local Government. That is where the police picked them up from and then straight to the police headquarters. In the middle, I got the news I drove to the police headquarters with my wife, where even they are the police headquarters before the arrival. OK, so so you were there basically when the police vehicle dropped the kids that we've been we've been showing on our screen, you know, the video of, you know, the students are lighting from that boss. You were there when when they came? Yeah, I was actually there when they arrived at the police headquarters and if you were on channel yesterday, I addressed channel TV briefly before I left the place because I was not granted access to enter the the facility there. So I have to wait till this morning to at least come and see them, bring some clothes for them to put on. OK, so we heard claims from one of the parents that they had been directed to one of the bandits called Amid. Whom they paid 800,000 era to what was saying reports that the parents denied ever paying 800,000 around some. Do you have any verifiable information regarding if the parents paid any money at all to the bandits for the release of their kids? I don't think there is anything like that. Actually, we read it and we, the parents, I am this. I serve as a spokesperson for the parents. And if you have been following us in all our first statements, there is never a time something like that came between us and our mediator. I mean, the person facilitating the negotiation for us. So the woman that made that statement was not this book person. It was she was not delegated to make any. I think she was making it out of her emotion. And maybe maybe maybe she from back. She must have done something like that, maybe for her own son. But we didn't have any information as to that. We have a chairman. We are I am having as a secretary and at the same time, this book person. If there is anything like that, that's exchange hand. At least I should be able to know. So I was surprised when we saw that on on the news that the woman was saying that they paid one X bandit, 800,000 Naira. And in fact, I say it kind of transportation to where? So where that is just the that is just the question. So there is nothing like that. I think some people want to drag the name of Sheikh Dr. Mamed Gumi into a mode which we, the parents, will not allow. We will not. And as of yesterday, we have addressed, we have sent a press statement to the media debunking that and also apologize to the doctor. I mean, the Sheikh that that information is is fake. It's not from us and it cannot be from us. So if there is any information that will be used, all should be established is either that information should come from me or the chairman of the committee. And without that, I think I say that the media should shouldn't work with such an information. All right, Mr. Sanyam, you are the chairman and secretary of what committee? What committee are you speaking of? I am I am the spokesperson for the group. We have a chairman in the press of Malam Osman Abdelay. Chairman of what what what are you referring to? We when this is then took place on the third of I mean, on the 11th of March this year, about a week later, we set up a committee and because they call it provost recommend that the parents should have a committee because everybody can not be carried along, even if there is anything to be done. And we set up eight man eight men committee to observe and observe the processes of recovering these children. So that is what we did. So I serve as a secretary and spokesperson of the committee. Why Mr. Samuel Kambai at that time serve as a chairman. But later we were dissolved and then another new people came on where we have Mr. Abdelay Osman as the chairman and Mr. Kela was serving as his spokesperson. Mrs. Katrin Saleh was serving as a as a secretary to the committee. And that was done about a week or two ago before the release of the children today. So Mr. Saleh, I know you've talked about the information that money was paid, but how about the fact? Did you as a parent or are you aware of any other parents actually contributing money to pay for the release of the children? I want to say that in the course of our in the course of our observing and movement around, we have cause to engage ourselves and see how we can, how we can on our own raise funds for what we call logistics. Myself and the chairman have been moving here and there for this negotiation process. After we got permission from the state government that we can go ahead on negotiation. So we didn't give anybody, anybody money. You understand, we didn't give anybody money. So and we have no cause to engage any parents or tell any parents to give anybody money. You understand, when you remember the other time, 10 people were released in two batches from that same camp. Those 10 people, some people thought that maybe would have gone from back, would have gone from back to pay ransom for those 10. And or maybe the parents of those 10 would have paid ransom for them to be released. And I debunked it. Nobody pay. And if anybody is to pay any ransom, they will come through me. OK, all right. That would provide a platform for myself to pay for my children, at least if I cannot pay for two at that time, I would have paid for one of them. OK, so nothing like that. All right, you've established that the parents did not pay any money to secure the release of the children. And I remember that. Mm hmm. Yeah, we didn't. OK, and I remember that, you know, parents had mobilized, traveled from Kaduna to Abuja, the National Assembly complex to protest the release of their children. Can you tell me about the whole process? You know, coming together to plan that travel. And when you went to Abuja, what the response of the government was at that time, because what we saw in the news was that, you know, they locked the gates of the National Assembly and denied you entrance into the building. So please walk us through that process of, you know, moving to Abuja and yes, please go ahead. Actually, we we we decided as a committee, immediately after the reshufflement of the committee, I summoned the the the the ESCO because of the service systems to the new spokesperson. So I suggest that there should be a committee meeting where we review what was done so far and then think of the way forward. It was in that committee. I personally suggest that an automaton should be given to the director general of Forestry Research Institute. And we gave him 72 hours of medium that something should be done fast since we are no longer expecting anything from the from the state government. So that something should be done fast. And that was born out of the fact that we realized that the students of Greenfield University are now being killed. So we now decide to issue that automaton to the DG which till we went to Abuja and the condition we gave was that one, if we fail to meet up our demand between the 72 hours, we are going to march to Abuja. And one of the reasons was that we are not happy with the way the director general handled the issue because no parents, he has no reason to engage parents on this matter. He didn't come for us. He didn't come even when the automaton was given to him. He did not speak to it. So we told him that if we didn't get this children before the weekend of last last week, we are marching to Abuja on Tuesday and he did not respond either in written or in call. So we now decided to take it as we as we decide to go to Abuja to seek the intervention of the lawmakers so that they will put them they will lend their voice into the situation because we are like being beaten from every side. The state government was not responding to us. Our own customers, including Forestry Research Institute, we are not hearing anything from them. Only the provost of the college was speaking to us. And he came to a point that he looked at people. The provost have exhausted all the all he has to tell us. So we were left unattended to and the only thing we could do was to just move further to Abuja because the school is under the federal government establishment. So we moved there. Now, our not being allowed to enter into the assembly complex is not the issue here. But the most important thing is that we were able to achieve our aim. We were outside the complex. The deputy class clerk of the National Assembly was sent to attend to us. And after presenting our letter and our appeal to them, we moved to where we put we packed our vehicles. And before we could kick the vehicle and move back to Abuja, they sent a powerful delegation of four men representing all the service chiefs to come. I mean, the chairman of the Committee of Defense that of army, that of Navy, that of Air Force were delegated to meet us and hear from us and pacify us to come down while they attend to our issue. And you remember that very day, Tuesday, the letter was sent to the chamber of the House of Rep. And it was especially, excessively discussed. And we were also informed that the house was supposed to go on recess on that day and will not resume again till after celebrate. But they have to reconvene today, Tuesday to also interrogate the matter of the Federal College of Forestry. And here we are, before the reconvening of today, the children have been released and we are happy about that. And we actually achieve our aim. So, Mr. Sunny, I wanted to find out from you how many parents or STG members traveled with you from Kajunatsu or Buja for that protest? I want to let you know that all the parents were there. Those that couldn't come because of their health challenge delegate somebody from their family. And we did not just travel with only parents. We travel with the Student Union Government officials. And some of the consigned students of the college. Can you give me a number of how many people traveled to Buja? We have about 51 people that travel with us. All right. I want to, you know, go into other angles now. First of all, I'll start with the confusion with regards to the numbers. Initially it was 29. Now we're talking about 27. Is there a possibility that there's still two that are unaccounted for? Or there was a mistake with counting the number of people in the first place? Yeah, actually, there is a mistake in the counting. The we, the committee, we are working on the first number that was given to us. And the first number was 39. Minus 10 out of 39, you have to 89. And because we cannot, we don't, we, we, we, we stick with the bandit at the time. They were telling us to come and call it our children. We don't have the time to ask them question how many children are in their custody. Even the pros of the college could have known because it's like the people that combine the list make some mistakes by adding additional two. So from the information I got yesterday, the students were asked those one released were asked after being counted. They were 27. And when they asked them, where are the remaining two? They said, no, these are all, all of us. There is not no, nobody else. We are 27 and that is what we know. All right. You also made mention that you met with the bandits. Can we get any information as to who these people are? That we didn't meet with them. We spoke with them on phone because that was their location. When they felt frustrated that the government was not speaking to them. They are not receiving any call from any government representative. Those are when negotiating with them. They will not strike a day at a time. They are spending a day to be struck. And they now restart to calling each parent to come for negotiation and pay the ransom for the release of their children. Of course, we told them that they did not tell us from the beginning that we are the one to negotiate. And that is why we didn't. So the call became so frequent and a company with a very severe threat. I want to say that God, God, God is the one in charge of this release of these children. Because if I tell you the kind of threat we receive, you will be surprised. So that is what really happened. We cannot tell who are these. But we read on the paper that the commander of this group who adopted these children was called Juan Bodiri, Fulani Persing. And that is all I know about him. All right. Also speak once again on the role Sheikh Gumi played in all of this. Hello. Yes, go ahead. I'm asking, can you speak on the role Sheikh Gumi played in all of this? Actually, actually from the government house after after a repeated appeal to the government to intervene and failed us, we were invited to the government house and the government told us that their position is this standing that we don't negotiate with any bandit, any criminal. So we appeal to the government to give us the opportunity to go and negotiate, look for how we can negotiate for the release of our children. There we have the word that we are free to do that, but not on the platform of the government. So it was within that period. We took our cry to him because we read his the role he played at Kagara. We read the about the role he played at Djangibi and the Kankara. So we felt that it could be of help to us. And when we get to him, he told us he would do his best. And you know that there was a time he traveled down to Ota in Biokuta, Ogu State to meet the former president of Nigeria, Chief Minister of Sanjo. This issue, this issue was the major issue that took him to the to the place because when you read the outcome of the meeting, you know, he was speaking directly on the issue of the Federal College of Forestry students and all of us are a security challenge in this nation. So he must have played a very vital role in this issue. He must have played a very vital role on this issue alongside with the former president of Nigeria. So we really commend him. Yesterday I spoke with a point around table and I said people should stop castigating this man. And a Christian is a Muslim leader and we have seen something good in him. And I want to let you know that without him lending his voice on this matter, alongside with our former vice, our former president, it would have been difficult for us. I must tell you the truth. Apart from God, I think they play a vital role in this on the release of these children and they should be commanded for that. So, Mrs. Sunny, earlier, you know, when you were responding to one of our questions, you said you've gotten lots of threats regarding your protest. Could you shed more light on that? What sort of threats did you get? The response. Are you talking about the response from the initial assembly? No, you mentioned that you've been getting threats. Getting, OK, threats. Yes. Yeah, we got threat from the bandit. There was a time they told us that if we don't come in less than 24 hours to come and pay ransom and rescue our children, that they are going to kill all of them. In fact, while we were talking, the man told me that he said, just wait, just wait. You will hear the sound of the gun and he shot to the air. He told us he told me again that, look, you people are thinking that when you give us money, we are going to buy ammunition. We already have ammunition. We have every type of ammunition, every type of gun in our hands. So we don't need to buy guns. But it is a must that we must pay this ransom. Then the other time they spoke with me again, they said, we should forget about our children, that they are going to marry the female ones off and then the boys, they are going to kill them. And the only thing we could do was to keep pacifying, keep begging them that they should give us time. You can just tell us, bring five million today or bring five million and collect your child. And then you expect me to get the five million between now and tomorrow. You understand, these are the nature of threat we receive. Like the last time they told us, they said, no child will live that camp except if the family, I mean, the parents pay five million. And I have two children there. I have to pay ten million. That is what they are saying. And I know that raising ten million will take me no less than ten years. So it means my children will be as good as dead in that camp. So when we saw the bill released, you could just imagine how how happy we are today. So, Mr. Sani, really, I want you to show me in detail, how do you feel now? I mean, after all this struggle, the protests, the threats, the threats to marry your daughters off and kill the sons. How do you feel now? I actually spoke with channel yesterday. I said the joy I have today supersedes all the threats, all the traumas, all the challenges that I faced within this two months. In fact, the joy of supersedes all the trauma that we go through. In fact, all the body, in fact, it may interest you to know that I carried a heavy load. I was having a kind of I was I was just I was just having a kind of taking the responsibility that is more than my power. Because while I was facing the trauma of having two children in the bandit's den, I was also speaking for the rest of the range. And because, in fact, yesterday night, I can tell you that because I enter my phone from the other parents and their family relatives that calls me, it was it is just too much that I couldn't drop phone for almost one hour. As I'm receiving call, another call is entering. I'm picking that another one will be coming in. And that is how it was. My own relatives were calling from all corners of this country asking me what is wrong, what is going on? What are they saying now? I get to the point and it gets to the point that I got exhausted. I don't know what else to tell them. All right. Thank you. Let's let's also talk about the release. Yeah, because I came now, Mr. Sani, after their release was not as stressful as that of as that of the time that they are still in the hands of the bandit. All right, Mr. Sani, can you hold on? Can you hold on, please? And if we join in my heart and the joy of the face of my wife. Friday, Sani, can you hold on? Thank you. And we celebrate with you. We're equally glad that it has turned out this way. But of course, there's still kids that are from the Greenfield University that are still in captivity. And of course, we hope that it plays out the same way and they are set free as soon as possible. But I also want to ask your thoughts with regards to the people who carried out this very, very terrible act, the bandits. You know, would you, of course, have liked that they be arrested? Was there is there any hopes that these people be caught so that no other child has to go through this coming in? I'm asking about the bandits and the people who kidnapped your children. Yes, we celebrate that these kids have been released. But, you know, would you also ask that the government ensures that these people are arrested and, you know, they are no longer a danger to kids in Kaduna State and in Northern Nigeria again? Yeah, actually, we receive a threat from the state government that because of a protest some times ago and subsequent press statements released from us, the state government threatened to arrest us. And some of our press statements is not as if we insulted anybody. And I don't see anything discriminating against about it. The truth remained that they are the government said that we don't negotiate and we came to the media and told the media we are going to negotiate for the release of our children. The children in the hands of the bandits are not air of our children. It is the children of the masses. And you cannot just tell us you don't negotiate. Did you want them to die in the hands of the bandits? Did you want them to rot in the bush? The blood that flowed through his vein and through the vein of his children is the same blood that flowed through our vein and the vein of our children. Yeah, we should be treated the way it should treat our children the way it treat his own children. Absolutely. And we also had a promise to do securing life and property. So when he come to this responsibility and he's denying us what is promised us, then we should speak to him, we should come out and condemn it. So when he say we will be arrested after our children, the rest of our children are released, I felt that, OK, at least the arrest we come after the children will be released or are released. So today, if I'm arrested today, my children will witness that I was arrested because I fought for their own release from the bandits. And I told the president that my children were under the arrest of the bandits with AK-47 steadily pointed to them. But if government arrest me today, I will be in their custody and I will relax knowing that one day that we leave me. Nobody will come to the prison with AK-47 to monitor me. The way my children were monitored in the bush. And these are female children. Majority of them are female children. You know how the kind of trauma they will go through. So I will be happy if today I'm arrested. I don't have anything to, anything to quarrel about. At least the whole world has known that I fought for the right for the freedom and justice for my children. And I was arrested by the government that did not care about the life of my children. So I will be one of the most happiest person if today the government will arrest me. But you also know that after I made a statement in my last statement the government came out to deny that they did not say something like that. That there are people that impersonate themselves as government officials negotiating on behalf of government. In our case we are negotiating on behalf of our children not government. So that is the issue. So we don't have any quarrel about that, sir. We already of course had spoken with Sam Alarouan, the commissioner for security and home affairs in Kaduna state. He also spoke on the statements that you just made now. And hopefully we can bring him in on the program maybe today or tomorrow to clarify and of course to give further details. And what I'm asking about the bandits and the people who kidnapped your children would you also demand that they are arrested and they are prosecuted so that other kids in Kaduna state and across the north are safe? If actually government has a way to do that they should go ahead and do it. If they could have, if they have the will of doing that you remember that Afakar case was not the first case in Kaduna. Before Afakar case as an institution the staff of airport were kidnapped from their own quarters at the international airport here in Kaduna. There are several other kidnapped cases in several individual houses in Kaduna. If Kaduna state government were careful enough and they are proactive I think they would have done a lot before this major one. Okay. You understand? So now arresting bandits I think if they have the ability to do that they should do it because nobody is above the law. But I think one of the things that I would suggest in my own way is to buy the idea of Sheikh Dr. Gumi who take the message, a message of Allah to them in the bush. And in the course of his meeting with them we learned that a lot of them dropped their arms and is advocating for that the government should integrate these people into the society by way of empowering them, give them a kind of amnesty. So if the government will engage them in a way of dialogue know their grievances, know why they go into this act I think it's the best thing to do. So you're saying you remember in Nigeria one of them laid down his arm and when he couldn't get what he expect from the government we told him to return back to the bush to carry on his banditry activities but we told him later that he was killed. So Friday Sunday you're saying it's a key interest to rehabilitate I mean get these people rehabilitated them get them integrated into the society I think it is the best way to do Friday Sunday just to clarify the information we are getting from even the first 10 that were released the kind of weapon they have is also stated that even the military will be afraid of them. All right so you're saying so Friday Sunday it is the masses just as it happened now it is the masses that will suffer Friday Sunday so you're saying so you're saying after your kids have been released you're asking that the bandits be granted amnesty and be reintegrated into society Mr. Sani can you hear me? Mr. Sani to clarify what you're saying after your two daughters have been released along with 25 others you're asking that the government should grant these bandits amnesty and reintegrate them into society Yeah what we are saying is that if the state government can do something I think this thing you remember I read something about Chief of Bafimea Oluwolo who made a statement that the children you refuse to train today we hunt you tomorrow I don't know whether you get the point Yes I do If these people are ravaging the society because they are not cared for then listen to them know their complaints how do you attend to their complaints I don't know whether you get the point if it is something that is within the power of government to do as far as you will face them out of you will face them out of the bush into the city so that people can be freed look at how we are now in the course of this what is it called the negotiation somebody attempt to sell in farmland among us but nobody was coming to even talk about buying the farmland because the farmers are not secured in their farm they cannot go to farm to their farm to carry out their farming activities so what kind of integration into society are you referring to everybody would be affected yeah so what kind of integration what kind of integration into society are you referring to now you're saying that they should be given jobs they should be placed on allowance by the government you know they should you know basically be giving government positions what exactly we don't encourage people that are not working if you look at it in karnatid now karnatid is downsizing workers they are downsizing workers which the labor are fighting against it so the the means of paying wages to non workers may not be there all right sonny that's I believe that you can bring this room from the bush train them give them a kind of vocational training where they can be self-reliant apart from banditry all right friday sonny we do friday sonny I apologize to bottom but would you understand where you're coming from you're saying tackle the causes of insecurity not necessarily just you know having a you know an operation to just kill them we understand where you're coming from but quickly how soon do you do you think you would like your kids to return back to school the reason why I ask this is because you know analysts have been saying that the reason why these bandits and terrorists are doing this attacking schools and kidnapping children is to you know basically cut down education but from your stats when all this is over when you know everything is cool do you do you see yourself taking your kids back to school that of the school are you talking about the school yes do you see yourself taking your kids back to school like very soon um the case of me taking my children back to school yes definitely there we have to study there we have to study but they are going back to that particular school depend on the security major put in place okay without proper security major in place if it is that particular area that the school is located it may interest you to know that I work in that particular school and I must say that we are we have deficit in terms of security if proper security check is not placed in that school I want to bet you you will never see any of these children that were released the 39 children that were released going back to that school all right and I also tell you that the the the the long time the long time it took it took the long time it took for them to rescue the children we also tell negatively on the school if we tell negatively on the school because one even if my children are not adopted and I had a story that there is a school that uh the student were adopted and the management failed to rescue the children within three four five days and it lasted up to two months I will be scared taking my children dead all right mr friday sanny I think that's the much we can take right now thank you very much for coming on plus TV Africa's the breakfast congratulations again on the release of your children you mentioned you were only able to see them before yesterday we hope you can see them and you know you can really unite your kids again thank you thank you very much thank you very much all right we'll take a break here and we'll be right back to talk politics governance in Nigeria do stay with us