Gunmen suspected to be bandits have kidnapped 18 students travelling from Sokoto State to their hometowns in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State.
The bandits were said to have attacked their chartered bus and killed the driver.
The students, who were travelling from Gamji College of Health Technology, Sokoto, were reportedly intercepted by the assailants along the route to Oyo State within the past 48 hours.
The abductors were said to have moved the victims towards the Mokwa axis.
The development has raised fresh concerns over the safety of students travelling between states, particularly along routes where commuters have repeatedly faced attacks and abductions.
An Oke-Ogun youth leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident, clarifying that the victims were students of Gamji College of Health Technology.
“Sadly, the unfortunate incident is being confirmed by me because I’m from Oke-Ogun too, and our people have confirmed that it truly happened in the past 48 hours,” the youth leader said.
He explained that the students were travelling in a chartered bus from their institution in Sokoto to Oke-Ogun, with Igboho as their specific destination.
“It was a bus taking students from Gamji College of Health Technology, Sokoto, to Oke-Ogun, Igboho to be precise.
“The driver was killed and all the students were kidnapped. They have reached the Mokwa side.
“The driver was killed at the scene and his remains were buried on Saturday,” he said.
Other sources familiar with the incident said the number of abducted students could be as many as 18.
The sources said the students were travelling in a chartered bus arranged by their school to convey them to their respective hometowns in Oyo State when the vehicle was intercepted by the assailants.
They were reportedly taken away by the attackers after the driver was killed.
Efforts to speak with the spokesperson for the Oyo State Police Command, SP Olayinka Ayanlade, proved abortive.
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