By Masara Kim and Ekani Olikita
Families are breathing a sigh of relief as 20 medical students have been released after being held hostage by bandit terrorists for eight agonizing days. The students are now receiving medical care for injuries and trauma. But investigators face the challenge of tracking the masterminds in faraway Zamfara State, TruthNigeria can report exclusively.
Families of the final-year students from the University of Jos and Maiduguri are unaware of the unfolding situation, apparently overwhelmed with their home return. Despite desperate crowdfunding efforts by the families, no ransom was paid for their safe release late on August 23, TruthNigeria confirmed. Police credit a joint security effort for the success, reporting the death of one suspect and the arrest of two others during a joint security raid. The members of the catholic students Union were kidnapped on August 15 south of Makurdi, the Benue state capital, while traveling to southeastern Enugu state for a church event.
During the 8 day hostage crisis, many of the families were unable to raise their share of $33,000 ransom, despite a threatening ultimatum by the terrorists, TruthNigeria learned. They include retired civil servants and artisans living on less than $2 daily income.
Hostage previous survivor of terrorist attack
Mr. Nicodemus Shantong, owner of a small machine shop in Jos, had just sent his share of the ransom for his son, Paul, late on August 23 to a central account created for families. Less than an hour later at 10:10 pm local time, he received a phone call from a police contact informing of the students’ release.
“I cannot estimate the joy that hit me,” Shantong told TruthNigeria. “I thought the ransom was paid, but I did not care,” said Shantong in a telephone interview. “Those were the most traumatizing eight days of my life,” he said.
At the time, Mr. Kwaghaondo Oandona was bonded in prayer with his family, with less than $100 raised by his son Godwin who had started a crowdfunding campaign on Facebook. Oandona’s son, Kingsley, who was among the hostages had made a post on X from captivity, announcing a chilling ultimatum handed by the terrorists a day after their kidnapping.
In 2022, Kingsley narrowly survived a machete attack by Islamic extremists in Jos. His tone reflecting fear and desperation from the second ordeal in two years, Kingsley announced on his phone “they said they will start killing us from tomorrow (August 17) if the N50 million ($33,000) ransom was not paid.
“When I got a phone call around 11 pm announcing the children were released, I jumped up and shouted for joy,” said Oandona to TruthNigeria by telephone.
“I have not seen my son since they were released, but I have been the happiest of all the parents, because I didn’t think they were going to make it out alive,” Oandona said.
“I retired as a civil servant 13 years ago and have not been paid a dime from my pension and gratuity. I just didn’t know where I was going to get that money from,” he said.
Gang leader contacted in Zamfara
A week after the terrorists’ deadline expired, the students’ fate lay in the hands of a feared terrorist warlord in Zamfara, TruthNigeria has learned.
According to a Sokoto-based scholar, Murtala Rufa’i in his book “I Am A Bandit,” Zamfara is home to the oldest bandit gangs in Nigeria with more than ten feared warlords. They include Ali Kawaje, who masterminded the kidnap of 21 female university students last September, according to local media.
Police have declined to release details of the operation leading to the release of the hostages. ButTruthNigeria learned the operation included intense negotiations by the team of soldiers and policemen, with ring leaders in northwest Zamfara.
“One Jamilu was first arrested [on August 23],” said Williams Agada, the leader of a civilian guard unit in Makurdi who led the arrest.
“He is somebody that we know here in Otupko,” Agada, the regional commander of Benue Community Guards told TruthNigeria. “He is one of the Fulani boys around here but was based in Ado [county],” Agada said by telephone.
“My boys suspected that Jamilu could be part of this [kidnap] arrangement, so he was arrested by the volunteer guards,” Agada said.
“Then later he was handed over to the police [at] a camp for all the security agencies where we used to gather,” Agada recalled.
“After he was tortured, he confessed that he was the one who was supposed to collect the ransom the previous night [August 22]. He told us that they had just called him [to inquire about the mission], and he led us to Otobi in Otupko local government. We went but couldn’t locate them. He took us to another camp in Ulai. In Ulai, another Fulani boy was arrested. He was also part of the kidnap gang,” Agada submitted.
“It was through that boy that they were able to extract the phone number of their leader — somebody in Zamfara after discovering voice records of their conversations on his phone. It was then that the army told the leader that if he was not going to release [the hostages], they were going to kill all of his people because we had located their camps, their cows and families. Because of that threat, he promised he was going to release them. He called the soldiers back and told them they should go somewhere around the railway line in Utonkon in Ado local government,” Agada said, withholding details of the kidnap kingpin.
“That was how we discovered [the students] and other abductees at the rail in the bush there and brought them back to the base at Utonkon camp, the location of the LEA Primary school. Then they were taken to Otupko from Otukpo to Abuja. It was my vehicle that was used to convey the suspects, and we handed them over to another team of soldiers at Keffi,” Agada said.
Police acknowledge citizen guards
Police officials in Abuja have acknowledged the role of civilian guards during the operation.
“The Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, has urged citizens to engage actively in national security and development initiatives,” wrote Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
“This call aims to foster a shift towards modern policing and to promote socioeconomic and political advancement in Nigeria,” Adejobi wrote in a statement on August 27.
“The IGP further advocates for citizen volunteerism and an individualistic approach to social and security restructuring in the country,” Adejobi wrote, confirming the release of 20 students and seven other hostages on August 23.
“The IGP made this call at the Force Headquarters on Tuesday while reflecting on and appraising the effectiveness of the well-coordinated operations placed for the rescue of the 20 (twenty) medical students who were kidnapped in Benue State on the 15th of August 2024, and another 7 (seven) Nigerians who had been in the captivity of the heinous criminals,” IGP Egbetokun wrote without giving details of the operation.
Police spokeswoman in Benue, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Catherine Anene told TruthNigeria “Information about kidnapping is classified.”
Masara Kim is an award-winning conflict reporter in Jos and the senior editor of TruthNigeria. Ekani Olikita reports for TruthNigeria from Benue.
