Kogi State governor, Usman Ododo, expressed optimism on Saturday regarding the safe rescue of the nine abducted students from Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara.
During his visit to the university campus to assess the security situation following the recent breach that led to the abduction, Governor Ododo pledged to ensure the safe return of the students from their captors.
Accompanied by the Vice Chancellor, Prof Abdulraman Asipita, Governor Ododo toured the campus surroundings, reaffirming his commitment to securing the release of the abducted students, whose whereabouts are still unknown since the attack by bandits on Thursday.
“This visit is part of my concern for what happened on Thursday and to assure parents and management that every necessary step including non-kinetic measures have been activated to ensure the safe return of the abducted students.
“I hereby wish to assure members of the university community of the efforts of my administration to improve the existing security architecture on the campus. We will do whatever it takes to return all the abducted students to the university and to reunite them with their families and friends.
“It is our duty as a government to protect lives and property in all parts of the state. We are prepared to protect the students and that is why we allowed the students to stay on the campus. It’s unfortunate that in spite of installed CCTV cameras in the classrooms and the entire perimeter of the university campus the abductors still struck.
“Our investigation so far revealed that all the cameras were switched off and this can only be attributed to sabotage by internal collaborators,” he stated.
According to him, security agencies are on their heels and investigation is ongoing to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.
He disclosed that there would be regular review of the operation as more facts emerge from the investigation.
He said, “I am here to see things myself; to assess the situation and also to review the ongoing operation that will ensure the safe return of the students to the school. What is most important now is how to rescue our students unhurt. We have the right information at our disposal but we can’t put all that out in the media. I want the parents and students to be calm as we are making concerted effort to secure the return of the students.’’
Mr Ododo commended the security agencies for their gallantry in minimising the impact of the attack by preventing the attackers from gaining access to the university hostels.
“Nothing will be spared to bring back the students and to prevent a repeat of such unfortunate attacks on the university campus and elsewhere in the state,” Mr Ododo stated.
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