The Kogi State Police Command has officially announced that 14 of the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Okene, students who were kidnapped have been freed from their captors.
On Thursday, May 9, the kids who were reading in the school hallways before their impending exam were taken.
Confirming the development on Sunday, May 12, the state police public relations officer, William Aya, said; “So far, 14 of them have been rescued, Our men are in the bush trying to find the rest.”
The bandits reportedly entered from the surrounding bush, entered three lecture halls, and fired shots into the air to intimidate the students.
In a statement released on Sunday, May 12 by the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, said the state government announced the rescue of some of the students without disclosing the exact number of rescued students.
The government credited the successful operation to the display of force by security forces and local vigilantes against the kidnappers.
The statement read, “This is to inform the general public that some of the students abducted by gunmen at the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, have been rescued safely by local hunters and other security agents.
“Local vigilante men and security agents engaged the kidnappers in a fierce shootout and the kidnappers succumbed to superior firepower and escaped with gun wounds, leaving the kidnapped students who also ran in different directions to avoid being caught up in the fire exchange.”
The commissioner disclosed that the students kidnapped, including other people in captivity, had been rescued and taken to medical facilities for proper attention.
He noted that “in the sporadic gun battle to rescue our dear students, a local hunter and a DSS operative sustained injuries and they are currently receiving medical attention.”
