Kidnappers threaten to kill six abducted law students if ransom remains unpaid
Kidnappers threaten to kill six abducted law students if ransom remains unpaid
The abductors of six Nigerian Law School students have reportedly threatened to kill the victims if their ransom demands are not met.
The students were kidnapped in Benue State on Saturday, July 26, while traveling from Onitsha, Anambra State, to the Yola campus of the Nigerian Law School in Adamawa State.
They were said to be on their way to resume academic activities following a court externship break, with lectures scheduled to begin on Monday, July 28.
A fellow law student, Damilare Adenola, identified the abducted students as Rev. Ernest Okafor, Ogbuka Fabian, Nwamma Philip, Okechukwu Obadiegwu, Obalem Emmanuel, and Obiorah David.
Confirming the incident, a student leader at the Yola campus said the victims were last heard from shortly before entering a volatile stretch of the road between Benue and Nasarawa states.
Sources at the Yola campus revealed that the suspected gunmen have contacted families and colleagues of the victims, initially demanding N20 million per student for their release.
However, the ransom demand has since doubled.
A source privy to a phone conversation between the kidnappers and one of the students told our correspondent by telephone on Monday evening that the abductors were now demanding N50m and had issued threats to kill the students if their conditions were not met.
“They threatened to kill the students if we refuse to pay the ransom. They also warned us not to involve security agencies, claiming they can monitor everything happening. They insisted that if we want the students to remain alive, we must stay silent and comply,” the source revealed.
The Adamawa State Police Command confirmed awareness of the abduction, with spokesperson Yahaya Suleiman stating on Sunday that the command is collaborating with their counterparts in Benue State to locate and rescue the victims.
Attempts to reach Catherine Anene, spokesperson for the Benue State Police Command, were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
This incident adds to a troubling pattern of kidnappings targeting Nigerian Law School students. In 2022, two students from the Agbani campus in Enugu State were abducted while shopping at the Eke Agbani market and later taken to an undisclosed location by the armed attackers.
