JUST IN: Tension as Gunmen Abduct Many Students in Delta State, Makes Difficult Demand

JUST IN: Tension as Gunmen Abduct Many Students in Delta State, Makes Difficult Demand

  • Several students have been kidnapped by a group of unknown gunmen along the Evwreni axis of the East-West road in Ughelli, Delta state
  • The students were returning from their school in Cross River state when they were accosted by the gunmen
  • Legit.ng reports that Nigeria experiences one of the highest rates of kidnapping for ransom globally

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering public journalism.

Ughelli, Delta state - Gunmen have reportedly abducted an unspecified number of students travelling along the East-West road in Ughelli, Delta state.

The incident reportedly happened on Friday, March 29, but details are sketchy as of the time of this report.

10 students abducted in Delta by unknown gunmen
Gunmen have abducted many students in Delta state. Photo credit: Nigeria Police Force
Source: Facebook

The students who were reportedly in a Sienna bus were returning from Calabar, Cross River state, when they were waylaid by the hoodlums, Channels Television reported.

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Vanguard newspaper quoted a security source as saying the kidnappers are demanding a ransom of N10 million.

Security agencies are yet to also comment on the alleged abduction.

Legit.ng reports that Nigeria experiences one of the highest rates of kidnapping for ransom globally. Between July 2022 and June 2023, no fewer than 3,495 people were abducted in 582 incidents across the country, according to a report by the Lagos-based risk consultancy SBM Intelligence.

In recent years, the abductions have been concentrated in the country’s northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for ransom, forcing families and communities to sell land, cattle and grain to secure their loved ones’ release – or in some cases, to turn to crowdfunding on social media sites.

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Read more Delta state news:

Military under fire for declaring Deltans wanted

In a piece of related news, Legit.ng reported that a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said it is illegal to declare anyone wanted without a court order.

Effiong said if the Armed Forces suspected them of murder or other offences, they should have passed the information to the police.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Ridwan Adeola avatar

Ridwan Adeola (Current Affairs Editor) Ridwan Adeola Yusuf is a content creator with more than nine years of experience, He is also a Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State (2014). Ridwan previously worked at Africa Check, contributing to fact-checking research works within the organisation. He is an active member of the Academic Excellence Initiative (AEI). In March 2024, Ridwan completed the full Google News Initiative Lab workshop and his effort was recognised with a Certificate of Completion. Email: ridwan.adeola@corp.legit.ng.