JUST IN: Tension as Gunmen Abduct Many Students in Delta State, Makes Difficult Demand

• Several students have been kidnapped by a group of unknown gunmen along the Evwreni axis of the East-West road in Ughelli, Delta state
• The students were returning from their school in Cross River state when they were accosted by the gunmen
• Legit.ng reports that Nigeria experiences one of the highest rates of kidnapping for ransom globally

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering public journalism.

Ughelli, Delta state - Gunmen have reportedly abducted an unspecified number of students travelling along the East-West road in Ughelli, Delta state.

The incident reportedly happened on Friday, March 29, but details are sketchy as of the time of this report.

The students who were reportedly in a Sienna bus were returning from Calabar, Cross River state, when they were waylaid by the hoodlums, Channels Television reported.

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Vanguard newspaper quoted a security source as saying the kidnappers are demanding a ransom of N10 million.

Security agencies are yet to also comment on the alleged abduction.

Legit.ng reports that Nigeria experiences one of the highest rates of kidnapping for ransom globally. Between July 2022 and June 2023, no fewer than 3,495 people were abducted in 582 incidents across the country, according to a report by the Lagos-based risk consultancy SBM Intelligence.

In recent years, the abductions have been concentrated in the country’s northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for ransom, forcing families and communities to sell land, cattle and grain to secure their loved ones’ release – or in some cases, to turn to crowdfunding on social media sites.

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Read more Delta state news:

• Delta killings: Lawyer calls for caution as military hunts for killers of 17 soldiers
• Military or police: Who should investigate killing of 17 soldiers in Delta? Lawyer explains
• "None of them will go unpunished": 8 arrested for killing 6 police officers in Delta

Military under fire for declaring Deltans wanted

In a piece of related news, Legit.ng reported that a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said it is illegal to declare anyone wanted without a court order.

Effiong said if the Armed Forces suspected them of murder or other offences, they should have passed the information to the police.

Source: Legit.ng