UNIABUJA Kidnapping: More Than 24 Hours After, Abductors Yet To Demand Ransom

More than 24 hours after the staff quarters of the University of Abuja was attacked and six individuals were kidnapped, including 3 staff members and 3 of their children, the assailants are yet to make any demands for ransom.

The UniAbuja spokesperson, Habib Yakoob, made this known in an interview with THE WHISTLER on Wednesday.

When asked if the kidnappers had made any demands or any form of communication with the university, he replied, “I have no information with regards to that.”

Yakoob said that as a university, there is nothing they can do that would be more effective than the efforts of the security agents to secure the safe release of the abductees.

“As you already know, we are a public university, there’s nothing we can do that will be more effective than working closely with different security agencies. As I speak with you, We are in touch with the DSS and the police. And they are all working with us judiciously to ensure that those who were abducted are returned to their families safely,” he said.

The University Spokesperson said that security is now tighter on the campus and everyone has been more security conscious since the attacks.

“Our safety officers have been mobilized. We are working in collaboration with the necessary security agencies in the FCT to beef up the security of our two campuses and our staff quarters and we are more security conscious now. Everyone that is moving in and out of the campus has to identify themselves,” he said.

THE WHISTLER previously reported that the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNIABUJA chapter, Dr Kassim Umaru, said the bandits were able to gain entry into the university due to the security lapses.

“As far as we are concerned, there is no security here at all because at any angle you can come in. We have the toll gate but at the back, the extreme of the location, there is no gate [and] there is no fence,” Umaru said.

Yakoob however said, the university is currently in the process of constructing a perimeter fence around the main campus.

“If you are familiar with the main campus of the university, you would have noticed that a perimeter fence is being installed. That fence will go round the campus and the work is moving so fast. But it had not covered the entire campus when we had this attack,” he said.