Suspected bandits have attacked the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, Okene in Kogi, abducting a yet-to-be ascertained number of students.
The gunmen were said to have entered the classrooms, where students while students were reading in preparation for the first-semester examination scheduled for Monday and started shooting sporadically into the air.
They were said to have whisked away a number of students.
While the number of persons abducted is unclear, the Kogi State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Femi Fanwo, said nine students of the school are missing.
He said, “Immediately the report was received, the Kogi State Governor, His Excellency Alh. Ahmed Usman Ododo activated the security architecture to track the kidnappers and ensure the abducted students are rescued and the abductors apprehended,” he said in a statement.
“We wish to assure students, parents, and the entire people of Kogi State that the Government is on top of the situation and all the abducted students will be rescued alive. Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has also directed that security agents be positioned around all tertiary institutions in the state.
“Hundreds of local hunters who understand the terrain, as well as the conventional security agents, are currently combing the area to ensure safe rescue of the abducted students who were kidnapped in the classrooms. So far, nine students have been reported missing.
The school authorities had yet to comment on the matter as of the time of this report.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of some students by bandits during the attack on the university.
The command spokesperson, William Ovye Aya, said the state police commissioner, Bethrand Onuoha, had deployed tactical teams to rescue the students.
“Yes, there was an attack yesterday at the Confluence University Osara. CP has deployed tactical teams comprising the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism, Quick Response Unit, Intelligence Units, and Anti-Kidnapping working in synergy with the military, DSS, local vigilantes, and hunters in trailing the hoodlums to rescue the victims and arrest the perpetrators,” Aya told the press.
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