Parent of 3 abducted Catholic school pupils dies of heart attack

A man whose three children were among the pupils seized from St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State has passed away after suffering a heart attack, according to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

Rev. John Hayab, who heads CAN in the Northern region and the Federal Capital Territory, revealed the development during an interview with ARISE Television. He said the victim, identified only as Mr. Anthony, could not cope with the shock 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.