Father of 3 abducted pupils dies of heart attack

A heartbreaking tragedy has struck a family in Niger State as Mr. Anthony, a father whose three children were among the pupils kidnapped from St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, has died from a heart attack.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) confirmed the incident, describing it as another devastating consequence of the worsening insecurity in the country.

Speaking during an interview with ARISE Television, Rev. John Hayab, Chairman of CAN in the Northern Region and the Federal Capital Territory, said Mr. Anthony collapsed and died after days of struggling to cope with the emotional trauma of his children’s abduction.

“One of the parents of the abducted children from the school died yesterday. Mr Anthony died of a heart-attack following the abduction of his 3 children.

“People don’t understand that when you tell it as it is, you’re not speaking against anybody, you are only trying to state the problem.

“The pains, the trauma, are still very fresh. We tried speaking to the parents today, and they were scared of speaking to us. When I was speaking to the leadership of the church this, it’s really a sad thing.

“You can imagine, the man was in shock because three children he would not even explain what’s happening to them. These are children who are used to possibly wake up in the morning to brush their teeth, have breakfast and later tea break or lunch depending on the school system and then dinner. These children have not seen sleep in the past few days. They have not done some of those things and have not even taken their bath. You can imagine what they are going through.

“Now the parents themselves cannot tell exactly where they are and what happens to them. I think there’s a mix-up of information even in some of these conversations,” he said.

Recall that more than 300 students  were taken when armed men attacked the school last week. About 50 of the abducted pupils later escaped and have since reunited with their families.