Tragedy: Two kidnapped Kogi varsity students killed as parents negotiate ransom payment 

The students were killed amid negotiations for ransom payments by their parents.

Police Commissioner Bethrand Onuoha confirmed this on Sunday in Lokoja, describing the killings as very unfortunate.

He did not, however, give details of the killings but said that security operatives were on the trail of the abductors to bring them to book.

Persecondnews recalls that the abductors invaded the school at 9.00 p.m. on May 9 while the students were studying in their classes ahead of their examinations scheduled for May 13 and kidnapped some students, shooting sporadically into the air.

Although security agencies had rescued 21 of the abducted students with the help of local hunters, a few were still in the abductor’s den.

Meanwhile, a non-governmental organization (NGO) – Education for All (E4A) – had condemned the killing of the two students in spite of ongoing negotiations with the parents to pay ransom for their release.

Malam Nasir Ibrahim, the Publicity Secretary of the NGO, said this in a statement in Lokoja, describing the killings as the height of callousness.

He said that the intent of the kidnappers was to scare young people from going to school, which was unfortunate.

“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 Government.

“Although the circumstances of their kidnapping 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 the 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 would be released at the end of the negotiations,” he said.