Three kidnapped Catholic seminarians set free in Kaduna

Three of the four Catholic seminarians kidnapped by gunmen early January in Kaduna State have regained freedom.

The four seminarians, who are students of the Catholic Good Shepherd Major Seminary Kakau in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, were kidnapped by heavily armed men who invaded the school.

The Kaduna State Police Command, who confirmed the incident, had said the gunmen who were in military uniforms attacked the school on January 9, 2020, and made away with the four students.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Yakubu Sabo, who confirmed the incident, told The PUNCH that but for the quick intervention of the operatives of the command, the kidnappers would have made away with more than four of the students.

Sabo said, "The Command received a distress call through DPO Sabon Tasha of Chikun LGA, that in the early hours of today 09/1/2020 at about 0030hrs, some Armed Men in Military Camouflage gained entry into the Good Shepard Major Seminary School Kakau By Fly-over along Kaduna Abuja Highway, started shooting sporadically and in the process took away Four (4) Students to unknown destination."

But three weeks after the incident, the Registrar of the school, Rev. Father Joel Usman, announced the release of three of the four abducted seminarians.

He said the fourth student was still with the captors and called for more prayers for the release of the seminarian.

Usman, however, was silent on whether a ransom was paid or not before the three students were released from the kidnappers' den.

The Registrar in a statement said, "With joy, the Formators, Staff, and  Seminarians of Good Shepherd Major Seminary, Kaduna, Kaduna State, announce the safe release of 3 of our Seminarians by their captors.

"One is still missing. We thank you our brothers and sisters for your prayers in our travails.

"Kindly continue to pray for the remaining one and all those who are still in the hands of Kidnappers. Thanks and may God bless you all."

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Babangida Dutsinma, has tasked Area Commanders to step up measures to combat kidnapping and banditry in the state.

The Commandant noted that all hands must be on the deck with a view to curbing the threat across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.