Two students kidnapped from the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Kogi State have been killed by their abductors.
The Kogi state commissioner of Police, Bethrand Onuoha confirmed the killing of the students to journalists on Sunday.
The Police chief described the killing as very unfortunate.
He noted that security operatives were on the trail of the abductors to bring them to book.
The kidnappers on Thursday, May 9, 2024, invaded the university around 9 pm and abducted some students of the institution who were in the classroom preparing for their forthcoming examination.
About 21 students were later rescued while some remained in the custody of the kidnappers.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, Education For All (E4A), has condemned the killing of the two students.
The NGO in a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Nasir Ibrahim, said that the kidnappers intended to scare young people away from going to school.
“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 kidnap 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.
“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 optimistic that they would be released at the end of the negotiations.
“Information reaching us shows that the students allegedly killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100-level Information Technology student and Musa Hussein, a 100 level Software Engineering student of the University.
“They were allegedly killed at the kidnappers’ hideout in Kwara State.
“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.”
