Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Six students of a private secondary school and two of their teachers in Kakau Daji village in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State were yesterday kidnapped by gunmen.

The village is located behind the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC) in the state capital.

Confirming the incident, spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Yakubu Sabo, said the gunmen invaded the school through a porous fence in the early hours of yesterday, went straight to the female hostel and abducted six students.

The spokesman also disclosed that two teachers residing inside the school were also kidnapped by the bandits and their whereabouts yet unknown.

Sabo explained that a combined team of police mobile force and anti kidnapping squad of the command have launched a manhunt for the kidnappers with a view to rescuing the victims alive and apprehending the culprits.

He also advised proprietors of private schools to beef up their premises with adequate security in order not to expose their students to any form of attack.

One of the parents whose daughter was abducted said that he received a call from the abductors yesterday morning.

He said: “They told my daughter to give them a number to call and that was when they called me, but I couldn’t understand if they were asking for ransom because they spoke in a language I cowuld barely under. I spoke with my daughter and then they collected the phone from her and terminated the call.”

Over the months, there have been a series of kidnap cases in the state, mostly on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

Sabo said: “The Command received an information through DPO Toll Gate that in the early hours of today 03/10/2019 at about 0310hrs, some armed men gained entry into the Engravers College, a boarding secondary school in a remote area near Kakau Daji village in Chikun LGA and took away two staff of the college and six female students to unknown destination.

“On receipt of that information, the Command immediately mobilised combined teams of anti-kidnapping, SARS, and conventional police to the area for possible rescue of the victims and arresting the perpetrators of the unfortunate incident.

“IGP’s Intelligent Respond team (IRT) has been contacted for technical support. The Command, therefore, is using this opportunity to reiterate its call on all the private school proprietors within the state to liaise with their nearest police formation and promptly report incidents or suspicious persons around schools to forestall future occurrence of ugly incidents. On this note, the Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command, Ali Aji Janga, is assuring the general public that the Command is doing everything possible to secure the release of all the victims unhurt.

“He equally called on the good people of the state not to relent in giving the police prompt and useful information at all times.”

The Kaduna State Government has also confirmed the abductions, saying efforts were ongoing to free the victims.

In a statement, Samuel Aruwan, the state Commissioner, Internal Security and Home Affairs, said the Kaduna State government “condemns this as a despicable action, a most unfortunate intrusion of crime into the life of young students and the staff teaching them.

“Governor Nasir El-Rufai has dispatched a government delegation to sympathise with the school community and assure them that security agencies are working to rescue the abducted persons.” Aruwan said he led the state government’s delegation that included officials of other security agencies.

The school’s bursar, Elvis Allah-Yaro, had earlier disclosed that Aruwan led a state government team to visit the school after yesterday’s kidnap.

Aruwan said he “spoke to parents and staff of the school and assured them that every effort will be exerted to free the abductees and punish this brazen crime.

“The school management and the parents of the students will be given updates as appropriate.”