The Kogi State Government has announced the rescue of the remaining eight kidnapped students of Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara.
Our correspondent gathered on Sunday that the students were rescued in a Kwara State forest in an operation carried out in collaboration with the government of the state.
Suspected bandits had swooped on the campus at around 8.30 pm on Thursday, May 9 shooting sporadically into the air and in the process whisked away an unspecified number of students preparing for their first-semester examination scheduled to start the following Monday, May 12.
Our correspondent learnt that the state government later on Friday, May 10, put the number of students kidnapped tentatively at nine which was later updated to 14.
On May 13, seven of them were said to have been rescued in the forest beside Obajana road, while another 14 were also reportedly rescued a week later bringing the total rescued to 21.
The Kogi State Police Commissioner, Bernand Onuoha, however, confirmed the killing of two of the students on Sunday, May 26.
The state Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, in a statement on Sunday said that the governor had directed full support towards the recovery of the students and their parents, while modalities were being put in place to make Kogi safer for all.
A statement later released by the Kwara State Police Command on Sunday stated that the sustained combined efforts of the police, the office of the National Security Adviser, the military, and local vigilantes, led to the successful rescue of eight students, five female and three male students.
The command’s statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ejire Adeyemi Toun, named the students rescued as Anate Hanifat Oyiza ‘F’ 19 years; Damisa Rasidat Ometere ‘F’ 17 years; Ahmed Tijani Fatimah (F) 21 years; Obakachi Mashkurah Onyioyiza ‘F’ 17 years;
Oloruntoba Blessing Kemisola ‘F’ 23 years and Omojo Godwin ‘M’ 19 years. Others are Abdulrafiu Abdulmakik Enesi ‘M’ 19 years and Musa Oseni ‘M’ 19 years.
“The Government of Kogi State expresses profound gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for directing the mobilisation of resources to ensure the rescue of the kidnapped students.
We also thank the National Security Adviser immensely for his commitment to the release of the students and the general security of the state.
“The Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Chief of Air Staff, the Director General of DSS, the Inspector General of Police and all the officers and men of the Armed Forces who put in their best as well as the pilots, did a wonderful job to support us in reuniting the kidnapped students with their families,” the statement noted.
According to him, “Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo also expresses immense gratitude to his Kwara State counterpart, Governor AbdulRahmam AbdulRazak for his personal commitment, cooperation and support towards the success of the operation that led to the rescue of the remaining kidnapped students.
“The Kwara State Governor showed the reason he is effectively leading the Nigerian Governors Forum. His actions have also reinforced the Kogi/Kwara cooperation and unity of purpose”.
He said, “Now that the remaining students have been rescued, our administration will continue the drive to recalibrate our security architecture and pay uncompromising attention to the Safe School Initiative. As the state with the lowest out-of-school children in the North, we have put structures in place to keep our schools safe to ensure every child is not deprived of his or her right to education.
“Kogi has domesticated the Child Rights Act and we will defend the right of our children to quality education. In Kogi State, education is free up to the secondary school level. We also pay the registration fees for our students to write all internal and external examinations with a budgetary allocation that is way above the UNESCO benchmark for education.
“We do all of these to educate our children and make them responsible contributors to the economy of Nigeria.”
He urged citizens to always volunteer intelligence to security agencies to enable them to prevent crime saying this was safer, cheaper, and better for all.
“All of us must come together to defeat banditry, kidnapping, and any form of criminality in our society,” he added.
