The Police command in Kogi on Sunday confirmed the killing of two of the abducted students of Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH),Osara.
The State Police Commissioner, Mr Bethrand Onuoha, confirmed the killing in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Sunday in Lokoja.
Onuoha described the killing by the abductors as “very unfortunate”.
The CP, who did not give further details, said that security operatives were on the trail of the abductors to bring them to book.
NAN reports that abductors invaded the school around 9.00 p. m. on May 9 while the students were studying in their classes ahead of their examinations slated for May 13, and abducted some students, after shooting sporadically into the air.
Also read: Bandits invade Kogi university, abduct students studying for exams
Although security agencies had rescued 21 of the abducted students with the help of local hunters, a few were still in the hands of the abductors.
Meanwhile, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Education For All (E4A), has condemned the killing of the students in spite of ongoing negotiations with the parents to pay ransom for their release.
Malam Nasir Ibrahim, the Publicity Secretary of the NGO, in a statement in Lokoja, described the killing as the height of callousness.
He said that the kidnappers were out to scare young people from going to school, which was unfortunate.
“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 government.
“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 very hopeful and optimistic that they will be released at the end of the negotiations.
“Information reaching us shows that the students killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100 level Information Technology student, and Musa Hussein, a 100 level Software Engineering student.
“They were allegedly killed at the kidnappers’ hideout in Kwara.
“We are broken and shattered that despite the efforts of the parents, NGOs and the State government, we still lost these promising students.”
He called on the Kogi government to work with its Kwara counterpart to take a decisive action against the perpetrators who were said to be hiding in a forest in Kwara, very close to Kogi and Ekiti States.
He commiserated with the families of the lost children, urging the National Security Adviser and the Federal Ministry of Education to reinvigorate efforts on the Safe School Initiative.
“The painful loss of the two students should provoke the office of the National Security Adviser to work with the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure the safety of our schools across the country.
“It is unacceptable to lose children whose only offence was embracing education. Our nation must rise to the occasion to arrest the rising insecurity across the country, ” he said.
