Police: Two abducted Kogi varsity students have been killed

The Kogi state police command says two of the abducted students of Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, have been killed.

On May 9, some gunmen invaded the university and abducted students who were preparing for their examinations.

On May 14, Kingsley Fanwo, Kogi state commissioner for information, said 20 students were rescued with four in captivity.

Speaking with NAN on Sunday, Bethrand Onuoha, the state police commissioner, described the killing of the two students by their abductors as “unfortunate”.

Onuoha did not give further details, but said security operatives were on the trail of the abductors to bring them to book.

Education For All (E4A), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), condemned the killing of the students, saying it was the height of callousness.

In a statement on Sunday, Malam Nasir Ibrahim, the publicity secretary of the NGO, said the kidnappers were out to scare young people from going to school, which was unfortunate.

“It is sad that the criminals killed two of the students who were not among the 21 rescued through the operation coordinated by the Kogi government,” the statement reads.

“This is sad, callous and a call for collective action against attackers of educational institutions.

“We are aware that parents of the students were negotiating with the kidnappers which slowed down the offensive on the kidnappers by security agencies so as not to endanger the lives of the captives.

“We were very hopeful and optimistic that they will be released at the end of the negotiations.

“Information reaching us shows that the students killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100 level Information Technology student, and Musa Hussein, a 100 level Software Engineering student.

“They were allegedly killed at the kidnappers’ hideout in Kwara.

“We are broken and shattered that despite the efforts of the parents, NGOs and the State government, we still lost these promising students.”

He called on the Kogi government to work with its Kwara counterpart to take a decisive action against the perpetrators who were said to be hiding in a forest in Kwara.