ENDANGERED SPECIES: Female Students As Pawns In Hands Of Merciless Terrorists

On October 10, 2023, four female stu- dents of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, were kidnapped in the Angwan Kare area, just after the Benue Cement Company (BCG). The incident, which occurred at about 10.30 pm, left the com- munity in shock and grief.

The abducted students were identi- fied as Rahila Hanya, 100 level student of School of Life Sciences and Technol- ogy (SLT); Josephine Gershon, 100 level, Computer Science Department; Rose- mary Samuel, 100 level, Department of Business Administration, Goodness Samuel, 100 level, Department of Geography. Sen. S. J. Timmy, the Senate Chairman on Security for the Nasarawa State University Students’ Union Government (NSUK SUG), stated: “Law enforcement agencies have been alerted, and a comprehensive search and rescue operation is underway to locate and rescue the abducted students.

“The university community, local au- thorities and concerned citizens are com- ing together to support efforts to bring
these students back safely.”
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO)
in the state, DSP Nansel Ramhan, who
confirmed the incident, said the police
were alerted to the situation at approxi- mately 12:55 am, when a distress call was
received regarding an invasion of a house
in Angwan Kare, Keffi, by unidentified
armed men.

“In response to the alarming situation,
law enforcement agencies swiftly mobi- lized with the police collaborating closely
with the military.
“A comprehensive search and rescue
operation were initiated, but regrettably,
as of now, the whereabouts of the kid- napped students remain unknown,” the
police image maker volunteered.
Similarly, last Wednesday, October 3,
2023, the Katsina State Police Command
confirmed the kidnap of five female stu- dents of the Federal University, Dutsinma.
The spokesman for the Katsina Police
Command, ASP Abubakar Aliyu, con- firmed the incident and the arrest of one
suspect.
“Yes, the incident happened. An arrest
has been made. I cannot say anything
more than that for now as I am on my way
to the institution. Our men are already on
the ground there and are on top of the situ- ation,” he said.
It was gathered that the criminals in- vaded the private residence of the victims around 2am on on the fateful Wednesday,
shooting indiscriminately.
According to the vice chancellor of the
university, Armaya’u Bichi, the terrorists
who abducted five students of the Federal
University, Dutsinma, were avenging an
attack on the relatives of some members
of their gang by security operatives.
He disclosed in an interview with DW
Hausa that the abductors revealed the rea- son for kidnapping the students during a
negotiation for the release of the students.
He said: “Discussions are ongoing with
them (terrorists). Security agencies in the
state are doing their best (to rescue the
students). They (terrorists) have spoken
and they said it was a revenge for an at- tack on their (terrorists) parents in Batsari
Local Government. Houses belonging to
their parents were burnt down and their
cattle as well as grains taken away.
“They wanted to avenge the attack in
Batsari but another terror group leader
was not in support of their actions and he
stopped them so they came to Dutsin Ma
to take the revenge.

“But they (terrorists) have been told the
truth that the people of Dutsin Ma and
the students have done nothing wrong to
them so they should release the abducted
students. We believe that by God’s grace,
they’ll release them.”
Maintaining that the students were
warned to stop living in some areas of
the town due to their vulnerability to at- tacks, he said: “Our university is fenced.
We’ve also dug trenches around the wall.
When I was appointed VC, I wrote to the
commander in Katsina to give us soldiers
and 30 have been sent to us. We also have
30 policemen. We’ve also hired about 60
vigilante group members who conduct
patrol at night.
“We’ve an area where we advised that
students should live (off campus) but
these ones live about two kilometres from
where we asked them to live.”
Few weeks ago, the police in Ekiti State
declared that they have initiated search ef- forts for a missing 23-year-old 500-level
student of Ekiti State University, Ado
Ekiti, Helen Eberechukwu Okorie.

Police public relations officer in the state,
Sunday Abutu, disclosed that the female stu- dent, resident at the Irona area of Ado Ekiti, the
Ekiti State capital, had been missing since Sep- tember 13, 2023.
The statement released by Abutu in Ado Ekiti
titled, “Missing person”, reads in part: “This
is to inform members of the public that one
Helen Eberechukwu Okorie of No.15, Ayoba
Quarters, Behind Sadiat Hotel, Irona Area, Ado
Ekiti, left home on 13th September, 2023 at
about 8am to an unknown destination and never
returned.
“She is 23-year-old, chocolate in complex- ion, speaks English and lgbo languages fluently
and has no tribal mark. She is a 500 level stu- dent of Ekiti State University.
“While the Command has commenced in- vestigation to unravel her whereabouts, anyone
with useful information concerning her present
location should kindly contact the nearest Po- lice Station or call 09064050086.”
While Helen is still missing, the body of a
100 level student of the Federal University, Oye
Ekiti (FUOYE), Atanda Modupe Deborah, was
found two days after she went missing.
Her body was found buried in a shallow
grave while her eyes were reportedly missing.
Deborah, a student of Nursing Department,
Stream A, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences,
went missing after she had gone to study in a
class on Monday night, September 4, 2023.
Her roommates declared her missing when
she did not return to her room. But her body
was found buried in a shallow grave behind her
faculty with her eyes plucked out.
Reacting to this incident in a statement, the
Registrar of the University, Mufutau Ibrahim,
ordered all students to vacate the campuses.
The university management stated further
that armed security personnel have been quick- ly deployed for patrol, surveillance and security
purposes, and that several arrests have been
made
“The University Management has received
a report on the case of Ms Modupe Debo- rah Atanda who was reported missing as at
Wednesday, 6th September 2023; and Manage- ment is saddened at the current turn of events,”
the statement read.
“It is pertinent to promptly inform the entire
University community that immediate steps
have been taken in this regard, as all national
security personnel have been drafted to handle
the situation. As a matter of fact, several arrests
have been made of suspects.
“To this end, all students (Stream A and any
other full-time student still on any of the Uni- versity’s campuses) are hereby directed to va- cate the premises with immediate effect to en- sure a proper, holistic and unimpeded thorough
investigation, please.
“It is worthy of note that armed security per- sonnel have been quickly deployed for patrol,
surveillance and security purposes.
“Rest assured that all steps would be taken by
the University to fish out any and all culpable
persons; and they shall face the full and unmiti- gated consequences of their action(s)
“A new resumption date for all students
would be conveyed accordingly. We sincerely
regret any inconveniences these may have.
The Registrar of the university also released
another statement confirming Deborah’s death.
His words: “It will be recalled that earlier
today, the management had made public the
disturbing development of the missing of the
deceased and assured that investigation was on- going as to unravel the whereabouts of the poor
students.
“But current information reaching the secu- rity outfit of the university has disclosed that the said student is dead.
“While the university management
condoles with the deceased family and
the generality of the university commu- nity, particularly our dear students, the
management reiterated that investigation
is still ongoing and this is being done in
collaboration with national security agen- cies to get to the root of the sad develop- ment and bring to book the culprits.
“We, therefore, appeal to students and
all other stakeholders to remain calm,” the
statement.
Indeed, many female students have
gone through hell in their quest for educa- tion. While some died or were maimed,
the fate of others is hard to describe. The
most notorious raid on Nigerian school
girls happened on April 14, 2014. That
day, over 276 female students 16 and 18
were kidnapped by Boko Haram from
the Government Girls Secondary School,
Chibok in Borno State. About 57 of the
schoolgirls managed to escape by jump- ing from the trucks on which they were
being transported. Others have been res- cued by the Nigerian Armed Forces on
various occasions. Amina Ali, one of the
missing girls, was found in May 2016. As
of April 14, 2021, seven years after the
initial kidnapping, over 100 of the girls
remain missing.
Encounter with Chibok girls
In November 2022, this reporter met
some of the Chibok girls who were res- cued by soldiers or who managed to es- cape after some years in captivity. Nar- rating her experience to the reporter in
Maiduguri, the capital of Bornu State, Re- joice Sanki said life had been miserable,
repulsive and agonising.
Rejoice said that growing up, she want- ed to be a medical doctor. According to
her, she loved the profession so much be- cause it would give her the opportunity to
help her fellow human beings when they
have health challenges. So, to be able to
achieve her dream, she was studious. She
rejoiced during school hours, enjoying her
books.
Then something happened and it
changed the course of her life completely.

She went through the valley of the shadow
of death, but fortunately she has the good
fortune of being alive to tell her story.
Like the other girls, she was in the
dormitory when the evil men came and
bundled them into their truck. Inside the
forest, her innocence was stolen. She was
violated endlessly. She was forcefully
married by a Boko Haram fighter named
Musa and before she was rescued by the
Nigerian military recently, she had given
birth to two children for Musa inside the
bush.
According to her, although she didn’t
like what happened to her and how she
was forcefully married by a man she did
not know, she loves her two children with- out measure. Asked if she had ever con- templated abandoning or doing any harm
to the children, she said no. “The children
are mine; they are my blood. I love them
so much,” she said.
Rejoice further disclosed that Musa
treated her nicely in the bush.
“He did not beat me, he was giving me
food. He was nice to me in the bush,”
she said. She, however, added that she
wouldn’t want to meet Musa again. She
said she married Musa because she had no
choice. “If you don’t obey whatever they
tell you, they will do whatever they like to
you,” she said. One other thing she regrets
is that she was forced to convert to Islam
by the insurgents.
Rejoice said that although the Borno
State government has been taking care of
her for one year, she wanted to go back
home because there is no place like home.
She said she was happy in Chibok be- fore the evil men came into the picture.
She further said that her dream of becom- ing a doctor has not died. “I still want to
go to school,” she said.
Twenty-four-year old Ruth Bitrus, who
had one child in captivity, also adores her
baby.
“I love my baby,” she said.
Similarly, Asabe Ali, 24, who was mar- ried to Mohamed Abu and had one child
for him, remains a doting mother. She
loves her child but is not missing the fa- ther.
Asabe told the reporter that she was
looking for help from government so that she can fend for her baby, who was one
year and four months old.
Abduction of Dapchi
Schoolgirls
Barely four years after the attack on
Chibok, the insurgents kidnapped 110
girls from Government Girls Science
Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State
on Monday, February 19, 2018.
During the attack, five girls died. Oth- ers were released on March 21, 2018 by
their abductors after government report- edly paid a hefty ransom. Unfortunately,
the only Christian among them, Leah
Sharibu, is still in captivity.
February 17, 2021: Bandits
abduct another 41 in Kagara,
Niger State