By joshua KOGI POLICE BLAME PRINCIPAL, NECO OFFICIAL FOR ABDUCTION OF STUDENTS AT UNAPPROVED EXAM CENTER
The Kogi State Police Command has blamed the principal of a school and a NECO official for taking students to write examinations at an unaccredited and isolated facility, a decision the command said exposed the students to the attack and abduction that occurred on Wednesday.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Naziru Kankarofi, in, made the disclosure during a press briefing in Lokoja while giving an update on the frantic search for the abducted students writing NECO exams.
The CP said the property used for the examination was neither accredited by NECO nor approved by the Kogi State Government for public examinations.
According to him, the principal, Mr. Solomon Audu, and the NECO official, Mr. Daniel Iya, “for reasons best known to them” took about ten selected students to a remote, isolated and abandoned part of the school premises to sit for the exam.
“At about 15:30 hours, gunmen attacked the location and abducted four students, the principal and the purported NECO official. On receipt of the information, we immediately mobilized our men and other security agencies to go after the criminals,” Kankarofi stated.
He disclosed that the operation led to the rescue of two students, while efforts are being intensified to rescue the remaining two students, the principal and the NECO official.
The CP said intelligence available to the police indicates that the gunmen have made contact with relatives of the principal and are demanding a ransom of ₦10 million.
Kankarofi explained that due to the current security situation, the state government and school administrators had agreed to assemble students in safer, approved locations for NECO to prevent such incidents.
“Unfortunately, the principal and his accomplice flouted the directive and converged the students in an isolated location that government and security agencies were not aware of. That gave the gunmen free access to strike,” he said.
The Commissioner assured that the remaining victims would be rescued, adding that their hideout had been identified and security operatives are already on their trail.
He described the incident as isolated, similar to the one in Iluke, and expressed confidence in the capacity of security agencies to repel such attacks and secure the release of the victims.
CP Kankarofi warned that no student should be allowed to write examinations in isolated, remote and unaccredited centers.
“The action of the principal and the NECO official made these students vulnerable. If you decide to write exams in a secluded location with no security, you should expect the consequences of your actions,” he said.
He lamented that such incidents portray Nigeria in a bad light internationally and give enemies of the nation opportunity to project the country negatively.
The CP further assured families and the public that with the support of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, and the Kogi State Government, the police have begun intensified surveillance of all communities where NECO examinations are taking place to prevent a recurrence.
He said security agencies are working assiduously and are optimistic of the safe rescue of the remaining two students, the principal and the NECO official “sooner than expected.”
No other student was attacked apart from the ten that were taken to the abandoned section of the school, the CP added.