By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja.
Education For All (E4A), a Non Governmental Organisation, has condemned the killing of two students kidnapped from the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH), Osara, by hoodlums who abducted them on May 9.
The NGO, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Nasir Ibrahim and made available to newsmen in Lokoja, said the murder was carried out in spite of ongoing negotiations with parents of the students.
The E4A described the murder by the kidnappers as the height of callousness and wickedness with the intent to scare young people away from going to school and acquiring Education.
“It is sad that the criminals killed two of the students who were not among the 21 rescued through the operation coordinated by the Kogi State Government.
“This is sad, callous and a call for collective action against attackers of educational institutions.
“We are aware that parents of the students were negotiating with the kidnappers which slowed down the offensive on the kidnappers by security agencies so as not to endanger the lives of the captives.
“We were very hopeful and optimistic that they would be released at the end of the negotiations.
“Information reaching us shows that the students allegedly killed were James Michael Anajuwe, a 100 level Information Technology student and Musa Hussein, a 100 level Software Engineering student of the University.
“They were allegedly killed at the kidnappers’ hideout in Kwara State. We are broken and shattered that despite the efforts of the parents, NGOs and the State Government, we still lost these promising students.
“We call on the Kogi State Government to work with its Kwara State counterpart to take a decisive action against the perpetrators who are said to be hiding in a forest in Kwara, very close to Kogi and Ekiti States”, the E4A urged.
The NGO commiserates with the families of the murdered students as it urged the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Federal Ministry of Education to reinvigorate their efforts on the Safe School Initiative.
“The painful loss of the two students should provoke the office of the National Security Adviser to work with the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure the safety of our children in schools across the country.
“It is unacceptable to lose children whose only offence was embracing education. Our nation must rise to the occasion to arrest the rising insecurity across the country”, the NGO declared. (Ends)