Two and a half months after gunmen kidnapped more than 100 children from a Nigerian Islamic seminary in the country’s northwest, parents have learnt four pupils have died in captivity.But no-one can say whose children are among the dead, leaving families devastated, with hope dwindling they will see their sons and daughters again, parents said.
“We got the shocking news of the deaths of four of the children from the person sent to deliver the ransom,” said Maryam Mohammed who has seven of her 12 children among those captured. Mohammed said the Tegina ransom envoy could not identify the deceased children as the kidnappers only showed him four graves they claimed belonged to the dead pupils.
Most have been released after negotiations or ransom payments, but hundreds are still being held in forest hideouts as their captors try to negotiate payments.