Abducted 20 Medical Students Rescued

The 20 medical students abducted in Benue have been rescued.

Although details of the exercise were sketchy last night, security sources said the students that were kidnapped in Benue State have just been rescued.

Channels Television in its breaking news last night, said the operation was coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

According to the report, security agencies including the police, Department of State Services (DSS) and military personnel and equipment were involved in the operation, with the support of the Benue State government.

Prior to this, the abductors of the medical students who were en route to Enugu State last Thursday had rejected the N20 million ransom allegedly raised by the Catholic community in Nigeria.

The president of the Community of Tiv Students at the University of Maiduguri, Prince Tihi Maxwell, whose two members were among the abducted students, disclosed this to LEADERSHIP Weekend yesterday in Maiduguri.

But a family member of Sampson Pius, one of the medical students abducted on their way to a Federation of Catholic Students Annual Conference in Enugu, revealed that they had begun frantic efforts to collect their part of the ransom demanded by abductors after each of the 20 families involved was told to contribute N2.5 million each.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the family member said what they had done so far was to create a WhatsApp group comprising Samson’s primary and secondary schoolmates for the contribution.

He described Samson, a final-year student of the UNIJOS, as facing many challenges due to the family’s poor background.

He said the victim moved to study medicine after studying laboratory science due to his passion for humanity.

“We received the sad news with shock. We know he is a decent person who believes in humanity. Before studying MBBS, he studied laboratory science. And when we received the news actually, all of us were shocked because this is somebody who is struggling with a retired, ageing mother who is also passing a lot of challenges.

“The last communication we heard with them was for every family to contribute N2.5 million.  We have been able to come through groups from his primary to secondary schoolmates to see how much we can contribute to the family.

“So this is the current situation. We know the security agencies are doing enough, but it is not good enough. Actually, in this country, we wonder who is a bandit or who the government is. An individual can say something and be arrested immediately, but a bandit can say and do something and get scot-free. There is also no support from the government. Not even from the abducted students’ states or the federal government.”

Meanwhile, the students have spent 11 days since their abduction in Oturkpo local government area of Benue State. Yet, there are no traces of the students and their abductors, even as the search and rescue operations by security agencies are ongoing in Benue forest.

In a reaction yesterday, the North Central Zonal coordinator of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Steve Aluko, called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun to redouble his efforts and ensure that those students are rescued and reunited with their parents.

According to him, Nigeria is short-handed in medical doctors, and if nothing is done, there will be a vote of no confidence in the Inspector General of Police.

Aluko further urged President Bola Tinubu to make rescuing the students a top priority for the security chiefs “because we cannot afford to waste parents’ investments in these students.

“We must use this to give credence to the fight against criminality in the country by ensuring that we get to the root of it and the students are delivered safe and sound to their parents. That is the only way the security architecture in this country will win the confidence of Nigerians,” Aluko said.

A credible source who did not want his name mentioned told our correspondent on the phone that the security operatives were seen combing the forest, but no trace of the abductors was found.

He urged fervent prayers for the safe return of the medical students.