‘My son will not leave public school despite kidnapping threat’ ~ El-Rufai

Gov. Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State says his child will remain in public school in spite the reported invasion of the state by kidnappers and Boko Haram elements.

El-Rufai stated this while reacting to the abduction of six students and two teachers at the Engrave’s College in Kakau Daji area of Kaduna State on Wednesday.

The governor, who spoke to State House correspondents in Abuja on Friday, said his child should not be safer or more protected than any other child in the state.

“My child should not be safer or more protected than any other child in Kaduna State. I took an oath of office to protect everyone and my child is just only one of the two million children we have in Kaduna state primary schools and I have no intention of reviewing that.

“For me taking my child to a government school was not only a commitment I made but a clear expression that I have enough confidence in the quality of our public schools for my child to attend.

“We have already given directives that all the staff of our Ministry of Education who is in charge of managing our education system must have their own children in government schools,’’ he said

On the abducted persons, the governor said the state government, parents and guardians of the victims as well as security agencies were doing everything possible to secure their release.

El-Rufai dismissed the insinuation that parents were withdrawing their wards from schools following the reported abduction of the students and teachers at the Engrave’s College in Kakau Daji.

The governor disclosed that the kidnappers had made contact with the parents of the students, demanding ransom.

According to him, the state government has assembled the affected parents and the relations of the teachers in one place.

He said this was to ensure one line of communication with the kidnappers to facilitate speedy release of the victims, adding that the state government had no intention of paying ransom to the kidnappers.

“We got intelligent report of the likelihood of this danger three months ago. Like I said, we put in place measures that I don’t want to go into details.

“But any bandit that comes to Kaduna to try to do this has a very high chance of getting killed, that is all I can say; very high chance of getting killed,’’ he warned.