The Police Command in Benue State has confirmed the abduction of two female students from Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, on the night of Saturday, May 25.
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Sewuese Anene, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi on Wednesday.
NAN reports that JS Tarka University is a federal university named after the late minority rights activist, Sen. Joseph Tarka, by the Buhari administration.
Anene stated that the incident occurred around 11 p.m. along North Bank/Uniagric Road, not within the university campus.
According to her, the unknown gunmen blocked the road, attacked, and abducted the victims before security operatives could arrive at the scene.
“It was in the night when some armed men came out, attacked, and took them away before the arrival of the police,” she said.
Anene mentioned that the attackers took the car and all the occupants away.
She noted that both the family and the university had notified the command, and an investigation into the matter was ongoing.
NAN’s investigation revealed that one of the students was from the Department of Biology Education, while details of the other were not yet available.
However, a reliable source from the university told NAN that a man drove into the campus on Saturday, picked up the students, and while driving into North Bank town, picked up another lady before they were attacked.
The source further said that he initially thought it was an armed robbery until the kidnappers contacted the family of the students.
All efforts to speak to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Itodo, and the information unit of the university proved abortive as they did not answer calls nor reply to text messages sent to them.
