Two suspected kidnappers, Aminu Lawal, aka Aminu Kano, and Murtala Dawu, aka Mugala, said to be members of a gang code-named the ‘Yellow Ashana’, speak on their involvement in the infamous kidnap of 140 pupils of the Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna State, and 16 students of the Greenfield University on the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway in 2021 during their parade by the police
How many people did your gang abduct during the operations?
Lawal: We kidnapped a total of 140 pupils from Bethel Baptist High School. The secondary school is located in the Kujama area, along the Kaduna-Kachia Expressway. We also abducted 16 students from a school known as Greenfield University, which is located on the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway and is close to the Olam Feed factory, which is not far from Kaduna town.
When did you kidnap the students?
Lawal: We abducted the 16 students of Greenfield University in May 2021, while we abducted the Bethel Baptist High School students in July of the same year.
How many of the students did your gang kill?
Lawal: We killed five of them while they were in our den. We took some of the female students to the bush, raped them, and shot five of them dead before we got the ransom from their families.
Why did you rape and kill the students?
Dawu: We murdered five of the victims after raping the girls in a bush because the payment of the ransom was delayed. So, we did that to threaten the students and put fear in them.
How was your gang able to carry out the operation successfully?
Dawu: The operation was a joint one. During the Greenfield and the Bethel Baptist High School operations, we from the Yellow Ashana gang worked with kidnappers from other camps.
Which other operation has your gang carried out?
Dawu: In 2021, our gang, led by our leader, Yellow Ashana, kidnapped and murdered two police officers and one vigilante cadet.