UTME: From bandits’ den to hall of fame, Yauri girls excel in JAMB

It was jubilation galore for parents, friends and family members of five former students of Federal Government Girls College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, over their outstanding performances in the just concluded Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination. The five girls were among the 11 girls rescued from bandits by government two years ago. Since their […]

It was jubilation galore for parents, friends and family members of five former students of Federal Government Girls College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State, over their outstanding performances in the just concluded Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination.

The five girls were among the 11 girls rescued from bandits by government two years ago.

Since their release, not much was heard about them until the news on their exceptional performance in the last JAMB examination broke out.

It was gathered that after the government had secured their release from Dogo Gide, the bandits’ leader that was holding them in captivity, the state government enroled them in private school secretly and has been responsible for their sponsorship.

• Electoral act amendment: Nigerians reject reps’ proposal for compulsory voting
• Gunmen invade palace, abduct traditional ruler in Kogi

 

Kebbi govt provides scholarship

A government official who spoke to Daily Trust said the administration of former Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu took over the responsibility of sponsoring the girls as he took pity on them over what they had gone through in the hands of the bandits.

He added that luckily, when Governor Nasir Idris took over from Bagudu, he decided to sustain the sponsorship and even made more commitment to their welfare.

He said, “The outcome of government support and commitment on the Birnin Yauri girls is what we are seeing germinating in their JAMB examination performance.”

 

Parents speak

Their performance has left their parents amazed. While speaking with our correspondent, they could not hold back their tears of joy and excitement while reflecting on the traumatising moments.

The chairman of the Parents Forum, Salim Kaoje, while speaking to our correspondent on the performance of the girls in the JAMB examination said the parents were overjoyed by the news as the children called to tell them about the outcome of the examination.

“We are so happy about the children’s performances. We all knew what we went through because of these girls while in captivity. Some of the parents had died because of their abduction. But today, the children are making us proud. You can just imagine how we are bound to feel over their JAMB results.

“The girls were enroled in private schools outside for security reasons. We are greatly appreciative of government support and it is yielding results,” Salim said.

He said they never knew the girls would ever be seen again because they had almost lost hope but for God, Kebbi State Government and Malam Salim Kaoje, the children returned home at last.

“Nobody had expected such a performance from the girls considering what they went through in the hands of the bandits that held them in captivity for two years,” James Nwasolu-Abisi, a father to one of the girls, Rebecca, said in emotionally laced words.

James said he and other parents were so happy when they heard the news of their JAMB results.

He said, “I didn’t even know how to explain the whole thing. We didn’t know they could still go this far and perform so exceptionally. Government has done a lot for us. They put the children in private schools.

“Every holiday, they bring them back to us by flying them back home on a plane. And whenever they are going back to school, they fly them back. I just want to thank God, former governor Atiku Bagudu, Governor Nasir Idris and the chairman of the parents’ forum, Salim Kaoje. Our prayer is for them to perform well like this in their WAEC and NECO.”

Also, Mrs Tafia Daniel Alkali whose husband died two weeks after their daughter, Neempere was released from the bandits’ captivity could not hold back her emotions while speaking on the performance of her daughter in the JAMB examination.

Mrs Daniel who works at General Hospital Warrah was full of praise to God and the state government.

She said, “We were not expecting this feat after all what had happened to them but it was a thing of joy for us. We are now waiting for their better performances in WAEC and NECO.”

Malam Abdulhamid Birnin Yauri, father to Hafsat Murtala, while speaking to our correspondent, said he had lost words to explain how happy he was over the news of his daughter’s performance in JAMB.

He said, “The former governor Bagudu had done a lot for the girls. When Governor Idris came, he continued in the same direction. Government enrolled our girls in private school, you can see the results of that now. We didn’t even know they would ever perform to this level again. These are children we never expected will be our own again. But they helped us to bring them back. See what they are doing today. They are making us happy”.

Another parent, Munirat Bala, mother to Faiza Ahmad said she was the happiest mother on earth over the JAMB results of her daughter.

“I never expected my daughter to perform up to this level because of what she went through in the hands of the bandits. I can’t tell you how I felt when she called to tell me about her result. She said mama, I scored 225 in JAMB.

“She is my only daughter and I want government to help us sponsor and support them up to the university level so that they can help their younger  ones,” she said.

 

The victorious girls

The students are Hafsat Murtala, Faiza Ahmed, Esther Sunday, Rebecca James and Neempere Daniel.

They were victims of abduction when bandits attacked Federal Government Girls College (FGGC) Birnin Yauri in 2021.

They and six others had spent two years in captivity before they were rescued two years ago from their abductors.

After their rescue, the state government decided to enrol them in private schools outside Kebbi State.

Their outstanding performance was seen as beating the imagination of their parents, friends, family members and those that were familiar with their plight and traumatising moments during the ordeal in their abductors’ den.

In the score sheet released by JAMB, Hafsat Murtala scored an aggregate of 225, Faiza Ahmed scored 225, Esther Sunday scored 217, Rebecca James scored 225 while Neempere Daniel scored a total of 117.

 

How the girls were abducted, freed after ransom

Daily Trust recalls that 11 of the school girls had been in captivity for two years.

The girls were released in batches to their parents in 2023 after the payment of N100 million ransom demanded by the bandits.

The bandits abducted 96 students and eight teachers from the college on June 17, 2021.

Many of the students were later released to the state government in batches.

But 11 of them were held for over a year and half despite huge sums of money paid as ransom and prisoner swaps at different times, before the two were released on Thursday 25 May 2023.