Nigerian bandits abduct negotiator over ransom to free students
Armed bandits in Nigeria have seized a negotiator who had been sent to pay ransom money to secure the release of 136 students kidnapped two months ago from an Islamic school in the north of the African nation, the school and parents said. Abubakar Alhassan, director of the Islamic school, said the school and parents have been negotiating with the kidnappers who demanded 30 million naira ($72,993) to release the students from the school in Nigeria's Niger state. Alhassan said the school had contributed to a ransom and some parents sold property to raise cash but they said the negotiator,…