Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-rufai on Friday vowed not to pay ransom to kidnappers even if his son was abducted.
El-rufai, who made the vow during a radio interview, said: “I mean it and I will say it again here. Even if my son is kidnapped, I will rather pray for him to make heaven instead because I won’t pay any ransom.”
According to him, his administration is not considering paying ransom to secure the release of the students abducted by bandits from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Kaduna, in March, insisting that his government is “absolutely not paying ransom” but considering other means to ensure the students are returned to their parents.
He said: “These bandits have lost their right to life under our constitution and must be wiped out in their entirety. There is no other way to approach the current insurgency situation today as far as governmental action is concerned.
“The bandits are at war with Nigeria and there is no other way to approach the current insurgency but for security forces to take the war to the bandits and recover forests where they are occupying.
“The security agencies mostly react to cases of banditry and abduction, we are in a war with these terrorist challenging the sovereignty of the Nigerian state.
“Our security forces must collaborate to take the war to the bandits and terrorists, recover and restore the forest to enable our law-abiding citizens to engage in legitimate farming and livestock production.”