Nigeria: 20 kidnapped students released in Lagos

Students abducted, August 2024 Photo: Truth Nigeria

August 25, 2024 Time: 5:38 PM

Twenty students from a medical college who were abducted by gunmen in central Nigeria on January 15 have been released, police said Saturday.

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“Release of 20 medical students and others. We have confirmed the release of our brothers and sisters and some other Nigerians, who were detained, on Friday, 23rd August, 2024 in Ntunkon forest, Benue State,” Nigerian Police spokesperson Olumuyiwa Adejobi said on his X account on social media.

Adejobi claimed that the release took place “without paying any ransom,” denying information that “some money was paid” to end the captivity of the victims.

“They were in fact rescued tactically and professionally. We congratulate the security services, the local people and ONSA (Office of the National Security Advisor) for their dedication and resilience,” the spokesperson added, without providing further details.

On August 15, students from the universities of Maiduguri (northeast) and Jos (center) traveled together to the annual congress of the Federation of Catholic Students of Medicine and Dentistry (FECAMDS) in the city of Enugu, southeastern Nigeria.

They were then attacked and abducted by unknown gunmen in Otukpo area of ​​Benue.

Some states in Nigeria, especially in the centre and north-west, are under constant attack by “bandits”, a term used in the country to describe criminal gangs who carry out attacks and mass kidnappings to exact large ransoms and whose members are sometimes referred to as “terrorists”.

The attacks come despite repeated promises by the Nigerian government to end the violence, which often claims to have beefed up security forces.

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