Two students from the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH) in Osara, Kogi State, were killed by their abductors despite ongoing negotiations with their parents, News About Nigeria reports.
The students killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100-level information technology student, and Musa Hussein, a 100-level software engineering student at the university.
The deaths were confirmed by the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Bethrand Onuoha, who described the killings as very unfortunate.
Speaking with newsmen on Sunday, Commissioner Onuoha expressed his condolences and stated that security operatives are actively pursuing the kidnappers to ensure they are brought to justice.
The kidnappers invaded the university on the night of Thursday, May 9, 2024, at around 9 pm, abducting several students who were preparing for their upcoming examinations.
While 21 students were later rescued, some remained in the hands of the abductors.
A non-governmental organisation, Education for All (E4A), condemned the brutal killing of the two students.
In a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Nasir Ibrahim, and made available to newsmen in Lokoja, the NGO expressed deep sorrow over the incident and accused the kidnappers of trying to deter young people from pursuing education.
“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 State Government, though the circumstances of their kidnapping and being traced to a forest in Kwara State by security agencies are yet to be ascertained. This is sad, callous, and a call for collective action against attackers of educational institutions,” the statement read.
The organisation mentioned that negotiations by the parents with the kidnappers delayed a more aggressive response from security agencies to avoid endangering the captives’ lives.
“We are broken and shattered that despite the efforts of the parents, NGOs, and the state government, we still lost these promising students. We call on the Kogi State Government to work with its Kwara State counterpart to take decisive action against the perpetrators who are said to be hiding in a forest in Kwara, very close to Kogi and Ekiti States,” the statement continued.
The NGO also urged the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Federal Ministry of Education to strengthen the Safe School Initiative to prevent such tragedies in the future.
