3 Days after their abduction from their hostels, more than 24 University kidnapped students still in being held in captivity in Zamfara state.
BRANDPOWER reports that over 24 students of the Federal University of Gusau were abducted in the early hours of Friday after bandits invaded the Sabon-Gida community of the Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
Nigerians have taken to social media to call for the urgent intervention of the government and security agencies to secure their release with various hashtags like #BringBackFugusGirls , #EnoughIsEnough and #EndInsecurityNow.
Netizens have also lashed out at the state governor, over his perceived inaction over the mass abductions. However The Punch reports that Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, has summoned an emergency security meeting Thursday following the recent abduction of the students of the Federal University Gusau.
According to the report, the emergency security council meeting was necessitated by Thursday night’s kidnapping of the students in their off-campus residence at Sabo Gida village in Bungudu Local Government Area.
In a statement on Friday, the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, stressed that the meeting was aimed at ensuring the immediate release of all abducted persons and finding a sustainable solution to the lingering issue of insecurity that has become a source of concern to the administration.
He added that the governor directed the Deputy Governor, Mani Mallam Mummuni, to provide all the necessary support to the security agencies to restore normalcy in all affected areas.
A student of the school, who asked to be anonymous for security reasons, told Channels Television that over 24 schoolmates, mostly ladies, were abducted during the attack.
A resident of Sabon-Gida identified as Nazeer Sabon-Gida confirmed that the gunmen invaded the community around 3 am and started shooting indiscriminately.
According to him, three students’ hostels were attacked and all the students in the hostels were taken away by the bandits.
“They entered the town around 3 am and started shooting indiscriminately,” he said.
“We have yet to confirm the number of students kidnapped because the bandits entered three hostels and kidnapped all the students there. It is difficult to ascertain their numbers now.”
Another source told Channels Television that the bandits were engaged with troops of the Nigerian Army in a fierce gun battle but that did not stop the bandits from escaping with the kidnapped victims.
“They were seriously engaged with the army troops but the way these bandits operate, they will divide themselves into two, one group will move with the kidnapped victims while the other will stay behind to protect the first group,” he said.
“The first group had left with the students while the second group engaged the army in a gun duel.”
In June, some students of the university protested the spate of abductions involving their schoolmates in Sabon-Gida and Damba.
Sabon-Gida village is a community opposite the main campus of the Federal University of Gusau that is about 20 km to the state capital, Gusau.
