Three students of University of Calabar were kidnapped two days to Easter Sunday at the university’s premises by unknown gunmen and taken into the forest across the river that links Akpabuyo and the University.
The students who reside in Freedom Hostel and University staff quarters, were students of Clinical College. A 200 level student of Medicine and Surgery, Ojang Precious, a 300 level student of Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Ugwu Chukwuemeka, and Damilola Dickson an only child of his parents who has about five months to graduate from the institution before his abduction.
The three students were whisked away by gunmen and thrown into a standby speedboat that ferried them through one of the nearby creeks along Akpabuyo waters, ignoring the fact that they were students who may never meet up with ransom needed by the abductors.
This sad incident has brought perpetual fear on students of the institution. Takon Agbor who claimed to be a Geology student of the institution said, “I am afraid because this isn’t what I bargained for. I came here to study with no knowledge of Kidnappers constituting a threat to this school. With this current development I can no longer go for night class to read.”
A student from the History department Francis Okweshi said, ” I don’t want to be kidnapped by evil people thronging the university premises like Satan looking for who to devour.
“I have a future which I came here to nurture and not to be whisked and taken to the creeks to suffer because my parents have no money to be paid as ransom.”
Another student Estella Bassey, who also lamented on the development, said she now prefers to read in the hostel since the kidnap incident.
Before the kidnapping of these three clinical college students, cases of abductions were present at the University premises. Those residing at the University community have had several instances where one or two members were kidnapped.
Last year, a renowned professor, Prof. Patrick Egaga who is also UNICAL’s Director of Servicom, was taken into the creeks of Akpabuyo waters and released after 26 days in captivity by his abductors to tell his bitter experience.
This is why it has become pertinent for management of the institution, to come up with better strategies to outwit these criminals by collaborating with security agencies, creating vigilante groups to comb the forests, mounting of CCTV cameras at strategic points among others.
