Nigerian Kidnappers Snatch Elderly Man Delivering Ransom for Abducted Children

An elderly man in Nigeria has been kidnapped after being sent to deliver a ransom in order to secure the release of more than 130 children who were abducted back in May. The man had 30 million naira, or $73,000, which was raised by the children’s parents, when he was taken by kidnappers. A wave of school abductions has occurred in the country by criminals raising a profit with ransoms being paid frequently, but rarely does the person carrying the cash ever get taken as well. Gunmen invaded a school in Tegina in May, abducting 136 students and demanding ransom money in return. Parents and school officials sold their possessions and part of the school’s land in order to raise money, but the kidnappers said it wasn’t enough when they called the school’s headmaster. “Parents are now resigned to fate. They say they can’t raise any more money. They are now relying on God,” head teacher Malam Abubakar Alhassan told the BBC. More than 1,000 students have been taken from schools across northern Nigeria since December 2020.