Tears Of Joy As Abducted Kankara Students Reunite With Their Parents In Katsina [Photos]

Hundreds of parents wept openly on Friday when they reunited with their children who were abducted by gunmen at the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State.

The parents, many of whom threw decorum to the wind, could not contain their emotions after they saw their children at the state pilgrims camp, where they were lodged.

A woman, who anxiously moved around in search of her son, begun to sob quietly when she didn’t see him at first. She had almost given up in her search when she suddenly spotted him seated amongst his fellow students, looking lean and sorrowful.

The woman jumped in joy, shouting his name and hugged him tightly, and didn’t mind that most of the people there were males, including the students and parents.

“I feel like God has granted me paradise because I am so happy,” said an ebullient Hamza Kankara after she found her son, Lawal, in the crowd.

However, some parents who didn’t initially see their children within the crowd became agitated, with some of them weeping openly, while a few of them wailed uncontrollably.

Another man knelt and kissed the ground, thanking God for the return of his young son, before clutching the boy and sobbing.

Illya Kabir, the father of a rescued student is overjoyed, “I feel very happy to find my son in this episode that has happened. I am grateful to Almighty Allah that secured him out of everything.”

Speaking during the reunion, wife of the state governor, Mrs. Hadiza Masari, called on the parents not to withdraw their children from school due to the incident.

Mrs. Masari said it was normal for the abducted children to go through trauma due to the incident, but added that they would soon overcome the problem and continue with their normal life.

“I call on parents whose children were abducted not to keep them away from continuing with their education, as doing so would not augur well with their future.

“It is normal for the children to go through emotional trauma, but this is bound to pass and the children would continue with their normal lives,” she said.

She said education is the bedrock of national development and that children deserve to be educated to prepare them for the future.

She, however, commended the quick intervention efforts of the Federal and state governments that led to the release of the students by their abductors.

KanyiDaily had reported how hundreds of Kankara schoolboys were abducted by bandits on Friday night, December 11, 2020, less than 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari arrived Katsina for a week long private visit.

On Thursday night, December 17, Katsina Government announced that about 340 Kankara students have been released after six day in the kidnappers’ den.

Meanwhile, the freed Kankara schoolboys have narrated their ‘six days horrible experiences‘ in the kidnappers after meeting President Buhari.