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The Nigeria Police have deployed helicopters in an effort to rescue medical students from the University of Maiduguri and the University of Jos who were abducted by kidnappers along the Otukpo-Enugu Highway about a week ago.
Several days after the 20 medical students and one house officer were kidnapped, authorities are fully engaged in locating them.
A police helicopter was sighted in Otukpo and Makurdi on Friday, signaling intensified efforts by the Police Tactical Team from Force Headquarters to rescue the victims, though no breakthrough has been reported yet.
The spokesperson of the Benue State Police Command, SP Catherine Anene, told newsmen on Friday in Makurdi that there is no update yet, adding that the police team is still working on the case.
She noted that the tactical squad, deployed to the state by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, in collaboration with other officers on the ground, has intensified and doubled their efforts to rescue all the students held captive.
Since Tuesday this week, surveillance helicopters have dominated the airspace over the Otukpo axis and neighboring local government areas such as Ado, Ohimini, Apa, Oju, and Ogbadibo. The helicopters have been seen hovering and thoroughly combing every nook and cranny of the forests.
The Commissioner of Police in charge of Benue State, CP Yabanet, has relocated to Benue South with his team from Makurdi to ensure the safe rescue of the students.
Last Saturday, the armed bandits demanded a N50 million ransom for the release of the 20 medical students, a development that the police have denied knowledge of.
Meanwhile, a father of one of the students, identified as Kwaghaondo Aondona Kingsley, who initially used his phone to alert the public about the N50 million ransom demanded by the bandits through a desperate post on his X account, has called on the kidnappers to release his son without delay and unharmed.
Kwaghaondona Fagar, a retired civil servant, made the plea from his residence in Makurdi.
“Most parents are going through economic challenges, and it will be difficult to raise the N50 million ransom,” Fagar said.
“Since January 17, 2013, when I retired from the state civil service, I have not received my gratuity except for the monthly pension, which the new administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia has started paying.
“I am calling on both the Federal and State Governments and other well-meaning Nigerians to assist the families to secure the freedom of all the affected victims during this trying time before the kidnappers carry out their threat of killing the students one after another,” Fagar added.
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