‘I told my family to be careful because, I won’t pay ransom, if kidnapped’ – El-Rufai

Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, who has been advocating against ransom payment to bandits insisted that he would not pay ransom if his son or any of his family member is kidnapped.

He said government should be brutal to bandits and other criminal elements, adding that they don’t deserve to live.

Speaking on a radio chat on Friday in Kaduna to underscore his government’s policy of not negotiating with bandits, he insisted that kidnappers should be treated the way the law envisaged.

“I have warned my family members to be careful to avoid being abducted.”

He said he also told them he would never pay a ransom for their freedom, should any of them get into the hands of bandits.

“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.”

Asked to speak on his position on the kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Kaduna, in March, the El-Rufai noted government would keep exploring other ways to get them back to their families.

“Government is absolutely not paying ransom.”

El-Rufai has been under pressure from the parents of the students, other concerned persons and groups to negotiate with the bandits for the release of the students.