Some parents of the abducted students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina and residents have dismissed the video purportedly posted by the Boko Haram sect on Thursday morning, showing some youths in captivity in a forest.
A father of one of the students Aminu Dayyabu said none of the youths showed in the video was a student of the school.
Mr Dayyabu, whose 12-year-old son, Farouq Aminu, was among the abducted students, however, prayed that the bandits did not kill the students in retaliation for any other steps taken by the government apart from negotiation to secure the release of the students.
“None of the students shown in the video, including the older one, who spoke in Hausa, was a student of the school.
“I will appeal to the government not to use violence to get the students freed. The bandits and members of the Boko Haram sect are parents too and would not want to harm the students. But Almighty Allah knows the best,” he said.
A woman Murjanatu Danja who is a mother of another abducted student, Hussaina Nasiru, said the faces in the Boko Haram video were not that of abducted students.
She said, “The faces in that video are not that of the abducted students. Even if I cannot identify other faces, I should be able to identify Hussaina’s face. But the faces are strange.
“I appeal again that government should secure the release of our children before their abductors take them far from home.”
Their reactions came before the state government announced the release of the boys on Thursday night.
Governor Aminu Masari said the boys were safe at Tsafe, Zamfara State, and would be transported to Kankara on Friday.
