Gunmen kidnap undergraduate returning to hostel in Cross River

The Police Command in Cross River has confirmed the abduction of a student of Arthur Jarvis University, Akpabuyo, near Calabar.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with the News Agency Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Calabar.

The students were returning to their hostels from where they had gone to read when gunmen accosted them at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

While one of the students was seized by the gunmen, others, who ran for their lives, sustained various degrees of injury.

Ugbo said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Aminu Alhassan, has drafted the Anti-kidnapping and the Dragon Units of the police to forestall the breakdown of law and order and to effect the release of the kidnapped student.

She said that the police have commenced an investigation into the incident.

Acting Registrar of the university, Mrs Ngozi Ughas, said in a statement that the school management was on top of the incident.

“All students and staff are please requested to remain calm and go about their normal duties. Kindly desist from circulating false information capable of causing panic,” she said.

Akpabuyo Local Government Area where the school is located is about 20 minutes’ drive from Calabar, the Cross River capital.