NECO candidates, official, principal abducted in Kogi

Bandits on Tuesday reportedly attacked Government Secondary School, Opada-Olowa in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State and abducted the principal, a supervisor of the National Examinations Council (NECO) and four students.

While the principal was identified as Mr Nyada Daniel, and the NECO official as Mr Solomon Audu, the abducted students could not be immediately identified.

The attack was said to have occurred around 2 pm when students were sitting the examination.

Residents said the attackers stormed the community, firing sporadically to scare people before invading the school.

They linked the attack to the worsening security situation in the area, recalling that a farmer was killed on his farm a few weeks ago.

A man identified as Ademu told Daily Trust yesterday that his cousin escaped through a window of the classroom.

“Several students who came to write the NECO examination paper had gone home as at the time the suspected bandits struck,if not, many of them would have fallen victim.

“On sighting  the armed hoodlums in the school premises, my cousin and a few students jumped out through the window and escaped”, said Ademu.

Some youths in the community were said to have trooped out to confront the bandits, but withdrew immediately when the attackers started shooting.

A community leader, Sunday Alkali, who also spoke to our correspondent, said residents were relaxing under trees when the gunmen suddenly appeared.

“The gunmen seemed surprised to see many people outside at that time of day and initially retreated. They later returned, shooting indiscriminately, forcing everyone to flee for safety,” he said.

According to residents, it was only after the gunfire subsided that they discovered the school had been attacked.

“We initially did not know what the gunmen were after. After the shooting stopped, some of us went to the school and found examination papers scattered across classrooms and the school premises. There were no students or school officials in sight,” another resident said.

Residents noted that the number of abducted students could have been higher but for the fact that only a limited number of candidates were writing Literature-in-English at the time, unlike core subjects such as English Language and Mathematics, which attract larger attendance.

Abductors contact victims’ families, demand ransom

The kidnappers were said to have contacted some relatives of the victims on Tuesday evening, demanding ransom for their release.

“At least four families have received calls from the abductors demanding huge sums of money for the victims’ freedom,” Alkali alleged.

Following the incident, soldiers, police officers, local vigilantes and hunters were mobilised to the area to track the abductors and rescue the victims.

“As I speak with you, soldiers, policemen, vigilantes and hunters are combing the surrounding forests in search of the kidnappers,” a resident, who requested anonymity, said.

Abduction happened at exam ‘miracle centre’ – Police, govt

The Kogi State Police Command and the state government yesterday said preliminary findings from the assessment revealed that the school had earlier been shut down by the Kogi State Government due to its isolated location and attendant security concerns.

The Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Saliu Oyiza Afusat, in a statement, said: “Information available at this stage, however, indicates that the abandoned premises may have been unlawfully used as a so-called “special examination centre” for the ten candidates”.

She said the command had received allegations suggesting that certain individuals might have facilitated the use of the abandoned facility despite its closure.

She also alleged “that the particular classroom used for the examination had, over time, gained notoriety as a venue for examination malpractice.

“These allegations form part of the ongoing investigation, and anyone found culpable will face the full weight of the law”.

The PPRO, who confirmed that the attackers abducted the school principal, a NECO ad hoc staff member and four students, said: “A combined team of the police and other security agencies immediately launched a search-and-rescue operation and is currently on the trail of the assailants.

“So far, one of the abducted students has been rescued, while efforts are ongoing to secure the safe rescue of the remaining victims and apprehend the perpetrators,” she said.

The PPRO added,  “Upon receipt of the distress report, the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Command, CP Naziru Bello Kankarofi, immediately mobilised tactical and operational assets and proceeded to the scene alongside the Commander, 12 Brigade Nigerian Army, Lokoja, Brigadier General Kasim Sidi, and the State Security Adviser to the Kogi State Governor, Commander Jerry Omodara (Rtd), to conduct an on-the-spot assessment and personally coordinate the ongoing rescue operation.

She said the Commissioner of Police had ordered the immediate deployment of additional tactical and operational assets to the area.

She said the command  assured the public that every available operational resource was being deployed to secure the safe release of the victims.

“Combined security teams comprising the Police, the Nigerian Army, local vigilantes, hunters, and other security stakeholders are conducting intensive bush-combing and intelligence-led operations to ensure the safe rescue of the victims and the arrest of the perpetrators.

“The command remains equally committed to thoroughly investigating the circumstances surrounding the establishment and operation of the purported illegal examination centre.

“However, the command urges members of the public to remain calm, continue to support security agencies with credible and timely information, and refrain from spreading unverified reports capable of undermining the ongoing rescue operation,” she said.

Also in a statement yesterday, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo, preliminary findings indicated that the examination centre, located in a remote and vulnerable area, was being used as a “miracle” centre for external candidates.

He said the two female candidates involved were not regular students of Government Secondary School, Olowa, and the examination arrangements did not align with the security framework put in place by the government to protect candidates writing the ongoing NECO examinations across the state.

He, however, stressed that the findings would not diminish the state government’s responsibility to protect every resident and every Nigerian within its borders.

The commissioner stated: “The victims are our people, and the government will spare no effort in ensuring their safe rescue and the arrest of those responsible for the crime.

“Officers and men of the 12 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Lokoja, 21 Battalion, Nigerian Army, Anyigba, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Kogi State Vigilante Service, local hunters and other security outfits have all been deployed to the area. “Advanced technology is also being deployed to support the operation, and encouraging progress is being recorded.”

Fanwo said the government urged residents of Olowa and surrounding communities to cooperate with security personnel by providing credible information and complying with security directives.

Criminals now see schools as abandoned territories – Atiku

Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the abduction, saying the incident further proves that the Nigerian state has abdicated its most fundamental responsibility, which is: the protection of life, learning and the future of its children.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said it is both tragic and disgraceful that in today’s Nigeria, children can no longer write public examinations without the terrifying prospect of being marched into the forest by armed criminals.

Atiku said the latest attack is not an isolated tragedy but part of a dangerous national pattern in which educational institutions have become preferred targets because criminals no longer fear the Nigerian state.

“It is impossible to separate this attack from the attitude this administration has displayed towards education.

“A government that has repeatedly made education more expensive through unprecedented increases in WAEC and NECO examination fees, neglected public schools, failed to secure learning environments and reduced education to empty campaign slogans should not be surprised that criminals now see schools as abandoned territories,” he said.

He said government policies have sent one unmistakable message—that education is no longer a national priority.

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