The kidnappers of 20 medical students of the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri have demanded a ransom of N50 million and have threatened to start killing some of the students if they don’t get the money on Saturday.

The kidnappers also granted their victims access to their phones to enable them interact with those who can help them raise the ransom.

These students were heading to the annual convention of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students (FECAMDS) in Enugu State on Thursday when kidnappers cornered them.

EQ contacted Samuel Oche, the president of the Benue Medical Student Association, who confirmed that he spoke with one of the kidnapped students on Friday.

“As of yesterday, we still had access to them. We tried to know if we could still contact them, and one of them, Boniface, confirmed to me on call that the kidnappers were asking for N50 million collectively,” Oche told EQ on Saturday.

EQ also spotted activity on the X account of Kingsley Aondona, one of the abducted medical students, on Friday.

“We were kidnapped on our way to Enugu for a convention,” he tweeted. “They are requesting N50 million for 20 of us medical students. Please, help us and we haven’t eaten for two days. They said they would start killing us tomorrow.”

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As is the case in many situations of abductions, families of the abducted mostly rely on public contributions to pay the ransom. When asked how much had been raised to pay the kidnappers, he said:

“To be honest, I have no idea if the contributions have started or not. I think this should be a national security concern, not individuals trying to contribute money.

“What I was thinking was that if we got the government to know about this, there should be a way to retrieve these people without having to pay a dime. How long are we going to continue to pay money?”

He also told EQ that some of the victims were sharing live locations.

“Some of the abductees were chatting with us right from in there. These are some of the hints that we have that are supposed to enable security agencies to make use of to track these people and get them out for us rather than donating money.”

The students were ambushed and taken by gunmen around 5:30 pm in the Otukpo area of Benue State.

@Nigerian_Doctor, an X account dedicated to posting issues in the medical field told EQ that the kidnappers had also made calls and asked for the N50 million ransom.

“I’m told the families want to keep things quiet now. So, we are all backing off,” he said on Friday.

Good morning, Nigerians.Shout out to everyone who has tweeted an appeal about our 20 kidnapped colleagues. Pls, don’t get tired. Let us apply pressure.If you have not tweeted once, pls na beg we beg. It costs you nothing but it goes a long way. Twenty lives are at stake. We… https://t.co/zdPg3kpEsm pic.twitter.com/RH0XwXiDOw— Nigerian Doctor (@Nigerian_Doctor) August 17, 2024

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@Nigerian_Doctor shared some of the names of the abducted students: Boniface Tizhe, Thomas Yahaya, Gabriel Jita Iwev, Boniface Okon, Dondo Fabian, John Bitrus Naga, Fortune Chima Umeh, Godwin Gregory Tumba, Monica Ejembi and Ogbonna George Chukwuebuka.

Others are Paul Nyampa Zira, Lawrence Victory Adaugo, Okopi Peter, Enger Benedicta, Kwaghaondo Aondona Kingsley, Paul Shantong, Victoria Cornelius, Pius Samson, Okan Adara and Luis Mmbamonyeukwu.

When EQ called SP Catherine Anene, the spokesperson for Benue State Police Command, on Saturday, she said that the police were aware and on top of the situation.

“Kidnap cases are usually classified,” Anene told EQ. Even when we have some updates, they are not for the public. As we speak, the team is there. They are doing their job. And they will give us updates when they are ready.”
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