Nigerian Army Tracks Abductors of Kogi Students

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Four students and a school principal were kidnapped on Tuesday evening from an examination centre in Kogi State where they were sitting the National Examination Council examination. The examination centre, known as a "miracle centre" for external candidates sitting the Literature in English paper, was in a remote part of the community, a factor that slowed the response of troops to the distress call.

And as the search-and-rescue operation continues, the 21 Battalion, Nigerian Army, under the Commanding Officer, Godiya Monde, says the gunmen have made contact, and troops are working to trace their location. They've made some calls so far. We are tracking them to see where they are, Monde said. I'm assuring you, we're going to rescue those children.

The school, where ten students had come to sit the Literature in English exam, was isolated, and even to locate the school was not easy, but they finally got there with the aid of somebody from the community. When they got here, we saw some papers littered on the ground. That was when we confirmed that actually something of that nature must have taken place in these classes, Monde said.

So far, one of the abducted students has been freed, while efforts continue for the rest. The Kogi State Police Command confirmed the incident and said a combined team of security agencies had launched a search-and-rescue operation. The state government also disclosed that two of the abducted NECO candidates were not regular students of the school but external candidates who had come to sit their papers at the centre.

The operation, according to the government, was ordered by Governor Usman Ododo and was being coordinated by the state's Security Adviser, retired Commander Jerry Omodara, alongside the police, the Department of State Services, the Vigilante Service, and local hunters. The state government insisted that the arrangement did not conform to the security framework the state had put in place for the ongoing examinations, but it did not lessen its duty to protect everyone caught up in the attack.

Punch Online had earlier reported that the attackers stormed the school on Tuesday evening while candidates were sitting the ongoing NECO examination, making off with the principal, a NECO ad hoc staff member, and four students.

The Kogi State Police Command confirmed the incident and said a combined team of security agencies had launched a search-and-rescue operation. The state government also disclosed that two of the abducted NECO candidates were not regular students of the school but external candidates who had come to sit their papers at the centre.

The operation, according to the government, was ordered by Governor Usman Ododo and was being coordinated by the state's Security Adviser, retired Commander Jerry Omodara, alongside the police, the Department of State Services, the Vigilante Service, and local hunters. The state government insisted that the arrangement did not conform to the security framework the state had put in place for the ongoing examinations, but it did not lessen its duty to protect everyone caught up in the attack.