Africa News of Sunday, 18 August 2024
Source: aljazeera.com
Nigerian police and security agencies are working to secure the release of 20 medical students who were kidnapped in the eastern part of the country, officials say.
The medical students were on their way to an annual convention when they were abducted in Benue State on Thursday evening, police and university sources said on Saturday.
The Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students said in a statement that the students were travelling to the convention in the city of Enugu when they were taken.
Fortune Olaye, the secretary-general of the Nigerian Medical Students’ Association, said 20 medical students from two universities, as well as one doctor travelling with them, had been kidnapped.
It added that there had been a ransom demand in return for their release.
In a Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) letter to the inspector general of police, posted on the social media platform X, NMA secretary-general Benjamin Egbo said 12 of the abducted students were from the University of Jos and eight were from the University of Maiduguri.
One of the students managed to share their location, indicating that they were in the Oglewu Ehaje area in 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, saying that swift and decisive action to secure their return was “crucial”.
The kidnapping was also confirmed by Catherine Anene, public relations officer for police in Benue State.
We will not rest until our dear students have been rescued, alive.@Fmohnigeria @NigEducation @PoliceNG @OfficialDSSNG @NGRPresident
— Nigerian Medical Association (@nationalnma) August 17, 2024
#FreeThe20MedStudents pic.twitter.com/iYvWtdVneC