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Nigerian Police Vow to Rescue Kidnapped School Children Unharmed

   Nigerian  Police  spokesman  Emmanuel  Ojukwu  says the kidnappers are
   using the children as human shields

   James Butty | Washington, D.C. 29 September 2010

   Nigerian  police  said they are doing everything possible to rescue 15
   kidnapped  school  children  unharmed.  Their  school bus was hijacked
   early Monday by gunmen in Nigeriaâs southeastern Abia State.

AFP Photo

   Gunmen from Nigeria's volatile Niger Delta

   The  kidnappers  are  said  to  be  demanding  a  ransom  of more than
   $100,000.

   Emmanuel  Ojukwu,  assistant  commissioner  and first public relations
   officer  for  the  Nigeria national police, said the children were not
   the target initially.

   Instead, he told VOA the kidnappers used the children as human shields
   as  police  were  closing  in  on  them after breaking up an attempted
   criminal act.

   âAll  we  know  is that they are using the children as shields against
   (a) police assault on them. We already know where they are, and we are
   working to get the children rescued unhurt,â he said.

   Ojukwu  refused to elaborate whether the police were actually planning
   to storm the bus and rescue the children.

   âI  will  not say what we want to do, but what I mean by using them as
   human  shields  is  that  they  (the kidnappers) went for an operation
   somewhere  and the police were after them. So, in their bid to escape,
   they  ran  into  the  bus  and used them (the children) to cover their
   tracks,â he Ojukwu said.

   He reiterated the kidnappers did not initially target the children.

   âLike  I  said,  the  children  were not targeted initially. They (the
   kidnappers)  were  escaping  from  police assault in an operation that
   went awry, and they ran into the bus and used the bus and the children
   as a human shield,â Ojukwu said.

Pius Utomi Ekpei

   Nigerian  President  Goodluck Jonathan waves to the crowd before their
   campaign declaration in Abuja on September 18, 2010.

   Nigerian  President  Goodluck  Jonathan  has  reportedly described the
   kidnapping as âutterly callous and cruelâ and promised quick action to
   free the children.

   Ojukwu said President Jonathan speaks for all Nigerians.

   âThe  president  has articulated the feelings of all Nigerians. So, we
   are  concerned like everybody else. But, like I did say, we are making
   every  effort  to  rescue  the children unharmed and reunite them with
   their families,â Ojukwu said.

   The  police said the nursery and primary school children were abducted
   while they were being driven to the Abayi International School.

   Ojukwu  said  the  main responsibility of the police is to protect all
   Nigerians irrespective of their economic and social status.

   âEvery  school  in  Nigeria  is  important  to  us  and  every life is
   important to Nigerian police. Our interest is not whether they are the
   children of wealthy persons or not. Every Nigerian child counts to the
   Nigerian government and Nigerian police,â Ojukwu said.

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