The police in Kogi State have confirmed that 24 students of the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara in Adavi LGA of the state were abducted during last Thursday’s gunmen attack.
Police spokesman Williams Aya disclosed this in Lokoja to newsmen yesterday.
Some bandits abducted the students who were reading for their upcoming examination on Thursday night.
The bandits stormed three lecture halls and began to shoot into the air to scare the students.
Kaduna’s Old Panteka market now vocational training centre – NBTE
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But 14 of the abducted students have been rescued, according to police and the state government.
“One of the rescued female students revealed that there were about 24 students kidnapped on that fateful day, others were herded away during the exchange of gunfire with the security team,” Aya said.
He said 14 students were rescued from a bush near Obajana in Lokoja LGA.
He said joint security teams, comprising the Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU), Quick Response Unit, Intelligence Unit as well as personnel of 12 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Lokoja, DSS, hunters and local vigilantes carried out the operation. Aya further explained that the combined efforts of the security teams led to the rescue of the students after a shootout with the abductors, forcing them to abandon some of the victims and flee.
“The security operatives are currently conducting thorough searches in the bushes to ensure the safe rescue of the remaining victims, apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” he said.