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Nigerian police working to release 20 kidnapped medical students | Crime News

According to the Nigerian Medical Association, students from the universities of Jos and Maiduguri were kidnapped while traveling through Benue State.

According to official sources, Nigerian police and security authorities are working to release 20 medical students who were kidnapped in the east of the country.

The medical students were on their way to an annual conference when they were abducted in Benue state on Thursday evening, police and university sources said on Saturday.

The Association of Catholic Medical and Dental Students said in a statement that the students were on their way to a conference in the city of Enugu when they were arrested.

Fortune Olaye, secretary general of the Nigerian Medical Students Association, said 20 medical students from two universities and a doctor travelling with them had been kidnapped.

It was further stated that a ransom demand had been received for their release.

In a letter from the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to the Inspector General of Police posted on social media platform X, NMA Secretary General Benjamin Egbo said 12 of the abducted students were from the University of Jos and eight from the University of Maiduguri.

One of the students managed to communicate his location, which was in the Oglewu Ehaje area of ​​Benue State, the letter said.

“The Nigerian Medical Association is deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of these future medical professionals,” it added. Swift and decisive action to ensure their return is “critical.”

The kidnapping was also confirmed by Catherine Anene, police spokesperson in Benue State.

Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue State, said in a statement that he had “directed security agencies in the state to intensify their efforts and ensure the safe release” of the students.

The National Police said in a statement that it had ordered the use of “modern helicopters and drones, as well as the use of special tactical vehicles to facilitate the search and ensure the safe return of the victims.”

The kidnapped students were reportedly travelling in a convoy of two buses from the north of the country when the incident occurred, Nigerian newspaper This Day reported.

The students were kidnapped on the road near the town of Otukpo, less than 150 kilometers from Enugu, where attacks and kidnappings are common.

In Nigeria, the number of kidnappings has risen sharply due to the severe economic crisis, which is driving more and more people into crime. However, official figures are unreliable because many cases go unreported.

In 2022, a law was passed banning payments to kidnappers – but many families say they feel they have no choice but to shell out the ransom demanded.

Nigerian consulting firm SBM Intelligence said it recorded 4,777 cases between May 2023, when Bola Tinubu took office as president, and January 2024.

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