Olu Samuel, Lokoja

Two students adopted last week at confluence state University,Osara in Kogi state have been killed.

They were said to have been kiiled amidst ongoing negotiations with their parents .

A yet to be ascertained number of students of the institution were kidnapped two weeks ago while they were preparing for their first semester examination scheduled for last Monday.
However,21 of them have been rescued by the combined team of police and local vigilantes while others whose number are yet to be known were still their abductors.

Although efforts to get confirmation of the latest development are yet to materialise ,however, a non governmental organization, Education for All,E4A in a statement condemned the killing, describing it as an act of “wickedness” by the kidnappers.

The police,state security Adviser Jerry Omadara,and the state Commissioner for information, Kingsley Fanwo have yet to respond to our correspondence enquiry as at the time filing this report

The NGO however gave the names of the two students killed as James Michael Anajuwe, a 100 level Information Technology student and Musa Hussein, a 100 level Software Engineering student of the University.

The statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of E4A, Nasir Ibrahim which was made available to newsmen in Lokoja, the NGO, said the intent of the kidnappers was to scare young people away from going to school.

“It is sad that the criminals killed two of the students who were not among the 21 rescued through the operation coordinated by the Kogi State Government, though the circumstances of their kidnap and being traced to a forest in Kwara State by security agencies are yet to be ascertained. This is sad, callous and a call for collective action against attackers of educational institutions.

“We are aware that parents of the students were negotiating with the kidnappers which slowed down the offensive on the kidnappers by security agencies so as not to endanger the lives of the captives. We were very hopeful and optimistic that they will be released at the end of the negotiations.

“Information reaching us shows that the students allegedly killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100 level Information Technology student and Musa Hussein, a 100 level Software Engineering student of the University. They were allegedly killed at the kidnappers’ hideout in Kwara State.

“We are broken and shattered that despite the efforts of the parents, NGOs and the State Government, we still lost these promising students. We call on the Kogi State Government to work with its Kwara State counterpart to take a decisive action against the perpetrators who are said to be hiding in a forest in Kwara, very close to Kogi and Ekiti States.

The NGO commiserates with the families of the lost children, urging the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Federal Ministry of Education to reinvigorate efforts on the Safe School Initiative.

“The painful loss of the two students should provoke the office of the National Security Adviser to work with the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure the safety of our schools across the country.

“It is unacceptable to lose children whose only offence was embracing education. Our nation must rise to the occasion to arrest the rising insecurity across the country”, the statement said.