Police Rescue 20 Abducted Medical Students In Benue After Public Backlash

The Benue State Police Command has announced the rescue of the 20 students from the University of Maiduguri and the University of Jos who were kidnapped by gunmen in the north-central region on August 15.

The students were freed late Friday night, according to the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Sewuese Anene, who confirmed the news to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at 11:15 p.m. in Makurdi.

“The victims have been released. Details will be released tomorrow (Saturday) morning please,” he stated.

West Africa Weekly reported the students, who were travelling to Enugu for their annual Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students (FECAMDS) Convention, were abducted in Otukpo. A House Officer accompanying them was also taken.

The students were said to be travelling in a convoy of two buses and were coming from the northern part of the country when they ran into the ambush on Thursday evening at about 5:30 pm.

A few days after their abduction, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of ₦50 million to secure the release of their hostages.

In the past six years, the federal highway from Otukpo through Ugbokolo in the Okpokwu Local Government Area to Odoba and Otukpa in Ogbadibu Local Government Area has become notoriously dangerous due to a persistent kidnap syndicate operating in the area’s dense forests and ungoverned spaces.

Channels Television recalled that some weeks ago, the management team of the Benue State Polytechnic Ugbokolo, led by the Rector was kidnapped on that axis. This was aside several other victims, including Catholic priests and many other kidnapping cases of motorists, with little or no effort to tame the menace.

The recent police rescue followed public criticism over the perceived discrepancy in Nigeria’s security efforts, where authorities seem quick to track and apprehend protesters and journalists, yet struggle to confront terrorists and kidnappers who openly operate with impunity.

The announcement also came on a day when West Africa Weekly‘s editor-in-chief, David Hundeyin, exposed that the police force have been able to uncover, track and abduct Nigeria’s renowned anonymous whistleblower, PIDOM.

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