By Ahmed Muhammed Danasabe, Lokoja
Two of the Students abducted from the campus of the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, Kogi State have been killed by kidnappers.
According to reports, the students killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100-level Information Technology student and Musa Hussein, also a 100-level Software Engineering student.
They were allegedly killed at the kidnappers’ hideout in Kwara State.
Both Anajuwe and Hussein were among an unspecified number of students kidnapped from the university on the evening of Thursday, May 9, 2024.
However, 27 of the students were rescued unhurt by a combined team of DSS, local hunters and police.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, Education For All (E4A) has condemned the Killing of the students.
It decried the action of the kidnappers, saying it came when negotiation was ongoing with their parents
E4A described the murder of the students as the height of callousness on the part of the kidnappers.
In a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the NGO, Nasir Ibrahim and made available to newsmen in Lokoja, E4A said the kidnappers intended to scare young people from going to school.
“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 State Government, though the circumstances of their kidnap and being traced to a forest in Kwara State by security agencies are yet to be ascertained.
“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 hopeful that they will be released at the end of the negotiations.
“Information reaching us shows that the students allegedly killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100-level Information Technology student and Musa Hussein, a 100-level Software Engineering student of the University.
“They were allegedly killed at the kidnappers’ hideout in Kwara State.
“We are broken and shattered that despite the efforts of the parents, NGOs and the State Government, we still lost these promising students.
“We call on the Kogi State Government to work with its Kwara State counterpart to take a decisive action against the perpetrators who are said to be hiding in a forest in Kwara, very close to Kogi and Ekiti States,” the statement said.
The NGO then commiserated with the families of the late students, urging the NSA 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,” the statement said.
