By correspondent in Lokoja.
Kogi State Government says the remaining eight students of the Confluence University of Science and Technology, (CUSTECH), Osara, kidnapped some days ago in the campus of the institution have regained their freedom.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo.disclosed this in a statement he issued in Lokoja on Sunday.
He recalled that the Governor of the state, Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo, had earlier directed full support towards the recovery of the students and their parents, while modalities were being put in place to make Kogi safer for all.
Fanwo added that the state government expressed profound gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for directing the mobilization of resources to ensure the rescue of the kidnapped students.
The Commissioner wrote:“We also thank the National Security Adviser, immensely,for his commitment to the release of the students and the general security of the State.
“The Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Chief of Air Staff, the Director General of DSS, the Inspector General of Police and all the officers and men of the Armed Forces who put in their best as well as the Pilots, who did a wonderful job to support us in reuniting the kidnapped students with their families.
“The Kogi State Command of all the security agencies, Police, DSS, NSCDC, and our local hunters are also highly appreciative of their efforts towards this feat.
“Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo also expressed immense gratitude to his Kwara State counterpart, Governor AbdulRahmam AbdulRazak,for his personal commitment, cooperation and support towards the success of the operation that led to the rescue of the remaining kidnapped students.
“The Kwara State Governor showed the reason he is effectively leading the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. His actions have also reinforced the Kogi/Kwara cooperation and unity of purpose.
“Now that the remaining students have been rescued, our administration will continue the drive to recalibrate our security architecture and pay uncompromising attention to the Safe School Initiative.
“As the State with the lowest out-of-school children in the North, we have put structures in place to keep our schools safe to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right to education.
“Kogi State has domesticated the Child Rights Act and we will defend the right of our children to quality education.
“In Kogi State, education is free up to the Secondary School level.
“We also pay the registration fees for our students to write all internal and external examinations with a budgetary allocation, way above the UNESCO benchmark for education.
“We do all of these to educate our children and make them responsible contributors to the economy of Nigeria.
“We urge our citizens to always volunteer intelligence to security agencies to enable them prevent crime. This is safer, cheaper and better for us all.
“All of us must come together to defeat banditry, kidnapping and any form of criminality in our society.”
