The Kogi State Government has condemned the brutal murder of two students abducted from the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, near Okene.
News About Nigeria reported that 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.
Negotiations for the release of the remaining hostages were underway when the news of the students’ killings emerged on Saturday.
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.
Kogi State Information Commissioner Kingsley Fanwo expressed the government’s “deep shock and sorrow” over the tragic incident in a statement.
“The state government was all out to rescue all the students and spared nothing in its bid to achieve that. This gruesome murder is regrettable and reprehensible,” Fanwo stated.
He explained that the kidnappers had contacted the families, but during the ongoing dialogue for their release, the students were killed.
Fanwo further noted, “This is an attack on us as a state, and the killers of our students will not go unpunished. They killed the students at their hideout in Kwara. We are currently working with security agencies to see how the remaining captives will be released.”
The statement mentioned that Governor Alhaji Usman Ododo has initiated discussions with the governors of neighbouring states to fish out the criminals’ hideouts.
“We thank the governors of Kwara and Ekiti for their cooperation and readiness to rid the evil forest of criminals. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. The state government will support them in every way possible in this dark hour of grief.”
