Twenty members of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students who were kidnapped on their way to their annual convention in Enugu, southeast Nigeria, have regained their freedom.
They were freed on 23 August, 2024, a week after their abduction.
After preliminary medical care, on 25 August, 2024, they were re-united in the office of the Inspector-general of police in Abuja with the Vice Chancellors of their universities.
Their kidnapping became a big embarrassment to the security agencies and government of Nigeria as it seems to confirm the high level of insecurity in the country.
The police say the students were in two buses and were seized about 5.30pm on 15 August, 2024, by armed bandits in a village called Ojano in the Otukpa – Enugu road while on their way to Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu.
The students are Catholic Church members, some studying medicine and the others dentistry. Eight of them are in the University of Maiduguri and 11 in University of Jos. A House Officer from the University of Jos was also among them.
The University of Maiduguri members drove down in a bus to meet those from the University of Jos who joined them in another bus, and they were travelling together.
The kidnappers, believed to be criminal Moslem Fulani herders, demanded N50 million ransom.
The Inspector-general said one of the kidnappers was shot dead by police, and two were arrested and are now helping the police in the investigation.
The Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students released the names of their affected members:
Okopi Peter (UNIJOS), Enger Benedicts (UNIJOS), Kwaghaondo Aondona Kingsley (UNIJOS), Boniface Okon (UNIMAID), Dondo Fabian (UNIMAID), John Bitrus Naga (UNIMAID), and Fortune Chima Umeh (UNIMAID).
Godwin Gregory Tunda (UNIMAID), Monica Ejembi (UNIJOS), Ogbonna George Chukwuebuke (UNIJOS), Paul Nyampa Zira (UNIJOS), Lawrence Victory Adanugo (UNIJOS), Boniface Tishe (UNIMAID), and Gabriel Jita Iwev (UNIMAID).
Thomas Yahaya (UNIMAID), Paul Shantone (UNIJOS), Victoria Cornelius (UNIJOS), Pius Samson (UNIJOS), Okan Adara (UNIJOS), and Dr. Luis Mmbanomyeukwu.
People were outraged as one of the abducted students, Kwaghaondo Aondona Kingsley, managed to make a post in his X account, saying their captors were armed and that they have been without food for two days. He also said their abductors have threatened to shoot them if a ransom of N50 million was not paid.
The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, and the Inspector-general of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, condemned the kidnapping and demanded their immediate release.
The Catholic Church in Nigeria offered prayers for them.
The National Security Advisor, Nuhu Ribadu, set up and dispatched an inter-disciplinary military team to Benue State to search the forest and rescue them.
It is not clear if any ransom was paid.
FECAMDS on the kidnapping
