Gunmen have killed two abducted students of Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, Kogi State.
The deceased were abducted alongside other students on Thursday, May 9, as they prepared for their first semester examinations scheduled for last Monday.
Twenty-one students were rescued by police and local vigilantes while others whose number remain unknown are still with the abductors.
Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Bertrand Onuoha, yesterday, confirmed that the students were found to have been shot dead, but did not provide further details.
He said an investigation was ongoing to unravel the circumstances of their killing.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, Education for All (E4A), had earlier given the names of the two students as James Michael Anajuwe, a 100-Level Information Technology student, and Musa Hussein, a 100-Level Software Engineering student.
The Publicity Secretary of E4A, Nasir Ibrahim, in a statement, yesterday, said the intent of the kidnappers was to scare young people from going to school.
E4A said: “It is sad that the criminals killed two of the students who were not among the 21 rescued in the operation coordinated by the Kogi State 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 by security agencies, so as not to endanger their lives. We were very hopeful and optimistic that they will be released at the end of the negotiations.
“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 decisive action against the perpetrators who are said to be hiding in a forest in Kwara, very close to Kogi and Ekiti states.”
The group commiserated with the families of the lost children, urging the National Security Adviser (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,” it added.
Also, the institution announced a three-day mourning for the late students.
A statement signed by the Registrar, Ms Olufunke Hudson, said: “It is with deep pain that the Management of Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, hereby declares three days of mourning over the death of two of our students who were kidnapped on Thursday, May 9, and killed on Saturday, May 25.
“All activities in the university are to be held low-key from Monday, May 27 to Wednesday, May 29, in memory of our departed students.
“The Management shares in the pains of the parents, family, and colleagues of our dearly beloved deceased students, and we use this medium to condole with them.
“We wish to assure the parents, guardians, and the university community that the Kogi State government is making concerted efforts to ensure the safe release of the remaining students from captivity.
“We urge everyone to be calm and maintain the peace as the Visitor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, is leaving no stone unturned in his efforts at making sure that the students are released safely.
“May the Almighty God grant the souls of our departed students eternal repose.”
