Ruth Semilore
The Kogi State Police Command has disclosed that 14 of the abducted students of the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Okene, have been rescued.
Some bandits abducted the students who were reading for their upcoming examination on Thursday night.
The bandits reportedly came in through the bush, went into three lecture halls, and began to shoot into the air to scare the students.
However, when contacted via a telephone call by our correspondent on Sunday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, William Aya said, “So far, 14 of them have been rescued, Our men are in the bush trying to find the rest.”
Meanwhile, the state government, through a statement issued earlier on Sunday by the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, said some of the abducted students had been rescued.
While the number of rescued students wasn’t stated, the government attributed the rescue operation to the dominant show of firepower by security operatives and local vigilante men over the kidnappers.
The statement read,
“This is to inform the general public that some of the students abducted by gunmen at the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, have been rescued safely by local hunters and other security agents.
“Local vigilante men and security agents engaged the kidnappers in a fierce shootout and the kidnappers succumbed to superior firepower and escaped with gun wounds, leaving the kidnapped students who also ran in different directions to avoid being caught up in the fire exchange.
“Many of the students kidnapped and even other people in captivity have been rescued and taken to medical facilities for proper attention, while many others were also rescued in the early hours of today.”
The commissioner noted that “in the sporadic gun battle to rescue our dear students, a local hunter and a DSS operative sustained injuries and they are currently receiving medical attention.”
“The success recorded so far is a clear testament to the readiness of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo to ensure adequate and uncompromising security for the people of Kogi State. We urge residents to report anyone with gun wounds found in their communities to law enforcement agents,” Fanwo added.
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However, in a statement on Friday, Ododo had assured the safe return of the abducted students, adding that the government had “activated the security architecture to track the kidnappers and ensure the abducted students are rescued and the abductors apprehended.”
The statement also noted that “nine students” were reported missing as security operatives and local hunters were working to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted students.
On his visit to the school campus, Ododo alleged there was an insider collaboration in the abduction of the nine students.
He said,
“We installed CCTV cameras in all the classrooms and the entire perimeter of the university campus yet on the day of the attack, our investigation so far revealed that all the cameras were switched off and this can only be attributed to sabotage by internal collaborators.”
