Alleged Terrorist Attacks Confluence University In Kogi State, Abducting Students During Class

     

     Late on Thursday, May 9, a group of bandits stormed Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Okene in Kogi state, kidnapping several students. An eyewitness account stated that the bandits stormed the University around 9pm as the students were reading for their upcoming exams.

  

   According to the report, the intruders entered through the bushes, proceeded to three lecture halls, and unleashed gunfire into the air in an attempt to intimidate students.

  They caught the students inside the halls and started taking them away. This caused a lot of confusion at the school as scared students from other halls ran away to safety, going in different directions.

    When the local security guards and the regular we personnel at the gate tried to stop the bandits, it was too late; they had managed to kidnapped some students

“But the efforts minimized the damage as the attackers didn’t go beyond the first three halls” the source said.

   As per the source, the students were getting ready for their first semester exams, set  to start on Monday, May 13, when the bandits attacked. 

  One student, who preferred not to be named,mentioned that he and some classmates fled to the bushes and hid for “over and hour”. ‘We only can put when things got quiet,’he explained.

   

   CUSTEC Vice Chancellor, Prof.Abdulraman Asipita, confirmed the incident but refused to give details on the number of students abducted.

  “I don’t talk to journalists on incidents like this, but I want you to know that we are on top of the situation,” he said.

  Efforts to reach the commissioner of police in Kogi, Mr Bethrand Onuoha, were not successful. 

  Retired Commander Jerry Omodara, the State Security Adviser, was unreachable for comment, as calls to his phone went unanswered and were not returned.

   

   Like in several parts of the country, abduction for ransom is the new normal, In February, gunmen reportedly kidnapped nine travelers in Oshokoshoko, along the Kabba/Obajana/Lokoja Road in Kogi State.

   The attack on Kogi University adds to the increasing number of schools assaults nationwide. Since 2014, when Boko Haram militants abducted over 209 schoolgirls from Chibok Village in Borno State, numerous students have been kidnapped from schools across Nigeria. Initially concentrated in the North-Eastern regions, these abducted have spread to other parts of the country, with gunmen targeting villagers and travelers for ransom.

   Despite the Federal Government and security agencies’ repeated assurances, criminals have persisted in causing chaos in various parts of the country. 

   This has prompted many Nigerians and state governors to call for the establishment of state police to tackle insecurity effectively.