Following the kidnapping of ten students of the Federal University of Lafia in Nasarawa State on Wednesday, their colleagues have staged a protest calling for the unconditional release of those abducted and the stoppage of the criminal act.
The institution was established in 2012 along with others and the Gandu community is one of the student villages around the University that have continued to expand in population due to its proximity to campuses.
Cases of kidnapping, mostly students of the university and other criminal activities in the community have continued to rise from January 2023 to date.
Recall that six students from the Federal University of Lafia were kidnapped in October and the parents allegedly paid a ransom of N5 million to the kidnappers, who then released the students.
Worried with the situation, the students and some residents including the village head of Gandu Community, Mallam Hassan Kassimu, staged a protest calling on the federal and Nasarawa state governments to take urgent action to curb insecurity.
The students besieged the main gate of the university, which led to the blockade of the Lafia – Makurdi – Obi road carrying placards with various inscriptions, some of which read “Nasarawa State Government saves us from kidnappers,” “Our parents can no longer afford to pay ransom,” and “kidnapping is a threat to the education of the girl child.”
Some of the students said the protest was prompted by the recent kidnapping of students at two different locations by gunmen and to end the trend.
The security agencies had used teargas to disperse the students from the road to pave the way for free traffic flow.
Acting Commissioner of Police Nasarawa State Command, DCP Shettima Muhammed, stated that adequate security patrols had been intensified around the university community
“It is illegal to block the major highway, hindering innocent citizens from using the road. Motorists traveling through Lafia to Benue State and other parts of the country could not pass. We had to deploy personnel to disperse the students. It is their right to protest but not block the road,” he said.
On his part, Mr Ibrahim Abubakar, Head of Information and Public Relations of the Federal University of Lafia, called on the students to be calm as the school had strengthened collaboration with security agencies to secure the community.
At the time of filing this report, the kidnappers of the students have yet to make any contact.
