The Nasarawa State Command of the Nigeria Police Force says it has commenced a manhunt for the kidnappers of three students of the Federal University of Lafia.
The students were reportedly abducted from their lodge located off the university’s campus.
Punch correspondent gathered that the incident occurred at about 8:45 p.m. on Saturday at Sure Leaders Lodge in the Bukan Kwato area near the university.
Speaking in an interview with Punch correspondent in Lafia, the state capital, on Tuesday, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Ramhan Nansel, said a manhunt had been launched to rescue the victims unharmed and track down the kidnappers.
He, however, said no arrests had been made so far but that efforts were ongoing to secure the students’ release.
The PPRO said, “So far, no arrest has been made, but efforts are ongoing to ensure their safe release. Though there are underground works that has been done on the pipeline, so we expect to get them released soon.
“We have some people (suspects) we have pencilled down who have been recognised, but we are waiting for confirmation. But with what is going on, they will soon be out of that place.”
A student of the institution, who spoke on comdition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak on the matter, confirmed to our correspondent that the incident occurred at about 8:45 p.m. on Saturday at Sure Leaders Lodge in the Bukan Kwato area near the university.
According to the source, the victims are all 100-level students of the university.
“They are all 100-level students of the university. The issue of kidnapping in this environment has become a thing of great concern.
“We are urging the government to help us out of the situation by deploying enough security personnel around the university because we are now becoming scared to sleep with our two eyes closed,” the source said.
Our correspondent reports that the abduction is the latest security incident involving students of the institution.
The kidnapping has sparked concern among students and parents over safety around off-campus hostels in the area.
When contacted, sources in the Information Unit of the Federal University of Lafia said the department was not aware of the reported kidnapping but confirmed knowledge of an attack on a female student of the institution.
As of the time of filing this report, the management of the Federal University of Lafia had not issued an official statement on the incident.