The Nasarawa State Police Command has confirmed the kidnapping of three students of the Federal institution of Lafia (FULafia) from their off-campus accommodation along Awe Road, near the temporary site of the institution in Akunza, Lafia.
According to Daily Trust, the Public Relations Officer of the Command, SP Ramhan Nansel, said they received the distress call around 9:21pm last night.
The gunmen knocked on the door of the students’ house before breaking into it, Nansel said.
“The gunmen came in when the students were at home. They knocked on the door and came in,” he said.
He said the hostel is in an isolated place near the university’s temporary campus, behind a high-tension power line and next to a woodland path going to Awe town.
The place is near to the bush. “There’s a gate there and if you push it with your foot or your hand, it’s going to open,” Nansel added.
He said the police freed one of the three students of the Federal University of Lafia kidnapped at the off-campus accommodation and commenced a vigorous manhunt for the abductors.
“Immediately, the Commissioner of Police, CP Shetima Jauro Mohammed, ordered the deployment of tactical teams and patrol operatives to the scene for a coordinated search and rescue operation in the surrounding forest.
“The quick response resulted in the rescue of one of the kidnapped students, and efforts are being intensified to secure the safe release of the remaining two victims still in captivity and to apprehend the perpetrators. “The CP has directed all operational and intelligence assets of the Command to continue the operation until all remaining victims are rescued unharmed.”
The high tension corridor and cattle trails are commonly used by kidnappers in the area as escape routes into the jungle after abductions, Nansel stated.
Most of the time when kidnappers take someone they follow the high tension line, pass through that region and go into the woods’, he said.
He said police operatives were already on the trail of the abductors and warned students not to seek accomodation in secluded places because it was cheaper.
“It’s no place fit for any man to live in. People are looking for inexpensive lodgings. “It’s a temporary stay. Pool your resources together or contribute to rent one house, instead of living alone,” he suggested.
The Command also encouraged citizens with helpful information to come out and aid security authorities in the rescue of the remaining victims.
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