LAGOS: Twenty medical students on their way to an annual convention were kidnapped in eastern Nigeria, police and university sources said on Saturday.

The Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students said in a statement released on Saturday that the students were travelling to the convention in the city of Enugu when they were abducted on Thursday evening.

Fortune Olaye, the secretary general of the Nigerian Medical Students’ Association, said that 20 students from the Maiduguri and Jos universities and one doctor travelling with them had been kidnapped. He said there had been a ransom demand in return for their release.

The students were abducted on the road near the town of Otukpo, less than 150 kilometres from Enugu, which is regularly the target of attacks and kidnappings.

The kidnapping was also confirmed by Catherine Anene, the public relations officer of police in Benue State, where the kidnapping took place.

Nigeria has been facing a significant resurgence in kidnappings due to a severe economic crisis which is pushing more people towards crime.

But official figures are unreliable as many cases are not reported.

In 2022, a law was passed banning the paying of kidnappers — but many families say they feel they have no choice but to pay the ransoms demanded.

Nigerian consultancy firm SBM Intelligence said it had recorded 4,777 cases between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu coming to power in May 2023 and January 2024.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2024