Gunmen have abducted more than 10 students of the Federal University of Lafia, in Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

According to The Punch, the incident occurred on Thursday, December 7 when gunmen abducted students from private hostels in Gandu, about 2 kilometers from the university. 

This was after a group of gunmen invaded the students hostels while shooting in the air, as some of the other students scampered for safety.

The state Police command’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ramhan Nansel has confirmed the incident, adding that police have launched investigations with an aim of rescuing the students. 

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“This kidnapping details are sketchy. The command has tried to get facts and identity of the victims but to no avail, thus we are finding it difficult to authenticate,” stated Nansel.

 One of the students who escaped during the ordeal, revealed that the unfortunate incident took about 2 hours from 3am Thursday morning.

Speaking during a press briefing in Lafia, the university’s public relations officer Abubakar Ibrahim stated that the actual number of abducted students is still unknown. 

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“It is too early to ascertain the exact number of students because those affected are not living within the school, but off campus,” said Abubakar.

Meanwhile, university students have started protests, demanding for the government to take action in ensuring their colleagues are rescued.

However, this was not the first time for university students to be kidnapped in the country, as several similar incidents have been reported before.

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The state government in collaboration with the central government and the security agencies have launched investigations into the matter.

Previously, security agencies and other government agencies in the country had intensified a crackdown on kidnappers but cases of kidnapping keep on recurring.