As Kaduna state government reunites rescued Kuriga school children with their parents, one of the children, Suleiman Lawal has said that the abduction and other events that followed has ingrained in him the desire to take his education to the highest level.
Speaking during the reunion in Kaduna on Wednesday, Lawal said, “it was God that destined that some people will come and abduct us and take us into the bush and by the will of God, He destined that we will come out safely. We have been well received. Those that are injured were treated and we are happy. Our coming here has given me the desire to pursue my education to a greater height by God’s grace. We are grateful to the government and Governor of Kaduna state. May God continue to uplift them.”
For another student, Aisha Mohammed the abduction has shown them the importance of education and they hope to achieve their dreams.
“We are grateful to the government, especially the Commissioner of Human Services and the Governor that helped us to see our parents again. We pray that God will continue to uplift them. We are also praying that God will also make our dreams to come to pass,” he said.
Addressing the reunion, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna state, who was represented by the Secretary to Kaduna State Government (SSG), Dr Abdulkadir Meyere said: “We should all thank God. It would be recalled that on the very day that this incident happened, the governor came down to Kuriga to see you people of Kuriga community to sympathise with you and to assure you as the Governor of Kaduna state of his concern, telling you people that these children are his children.
“He also promised that he would do his best by working with the Federal Government and the security agencies to rescue the children. In the mercy of God, what the Governor promised has happened. The Governor would have loved to be here himself today, but he has gone to Abuja on an equally important assignment. But he has said that he would not allow them go back to Kuriga until he comes back tomorrow to personally bid then farewell. By the grace of God, your children will be handed over to you tomorrow.”
Speaking on behalf of the community, the Village Head of Kuriga said they were excited with the way Kaduna state government took up the issue and surprised them with the rescue of their children in record time.
“We the people of Kuriga did not know that government takes us as important people until I got the call of the Governor. We are grateful for this. We are praying that the abduction of our children will be the last abduction of school children, not only in Kuriga, but in the entire country,” he said.
Another parent, Malam Idris Abdullahi, said, “please, bear with me because of my voice. It is nothing but because I was in tears of joy. There is no doubt, only God knows what was going through our minds. We express our gratitude to God Almighty that bestowed His mercy on us. There is nothing we are going to say to the Governor other than to thank and pray that Allah reward him abundantly.
“We are praying that Allah will protect him, make him succeed in his tenure and get re-elected. We have started hearing that the Governor will stand by us and ensure that these our children complete their education up to university level. May Allah make it happen like that.”
Another parent, Malam Dahiru Abdullahi notes that, “we are grateful to God that brought us a day like this. From the moment we got a voice message from Aminu Jubril Gwadabe that the children have been rescued and they were on their way to Kaduna, at that time, we were together with the Village Head of Kuriga. We went out and informed the parents and it was like we had seen the children ourselves.
“From that moment, our joy knew no bound because the news came just when the governor brought palliative to us. So, we are grateful first to the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Governor of Kaduna, as well as the Chief of Defence Staff, General CG Musa, National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu and others because they worked tirelessly to rescue the children. This is because in the history of abduction of school children, from Chibok, to Yauri, to Kagara and other ones, there is no one where the children were rescued within 16 days like this one. So, we are grateful.”