The schoolgirls kidnapped from Government Secondary School in Jangebe, Zamfara State have been released and are currently in the palace of the Emir of Anka waiting for transportation to Gusau, the state capital.
A very competent source had informed Sunday PUNCH on Saturday that negotiations with the bandits who kidnapped the schoolgirls had reached a very advanced stage, saying “they may be in Gusau today”.
The girls who were kidnapped on Friday were believed to have been taken to a forest by bandits who reportedly disguised as security personnel.
A source said the girls were kept in the forest between Dangulbi and Sabon Birnin Banaga in the Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The incident was the latest mass kidnapping for ransom by armed gangs in the North in recent weeks.
A week earlier, bandits had kidnapped dozens of pupils and workers of Government Science College in Kagara, Niger State.
The abductees were released on Saturday.
Bandits had also last December kidnapped over 300 schoolboys from Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State.
The state government which had earlier expressed optimism that the girls would return soon, however, refused to either confirm or deny the rumours that it reached a truce with the abductors concerning their release.
