Between 12 and 17 students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria have been taken hostage by suspected kidnappers along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway.

The incident which reportedly occurred at the early hours of Sunday involved 300 Level students of the Department of French on their way to Lagos for the language immersion program at the Nigeria French Language Village (NFLV) in Badagry which was earlier interrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to Precious Owunna, a student of the Nigeria French Language Village in Badagry who confirm the news, one of the students was shot while trying to escape, while another woman was left behind because of her baby.

She said: “Am a UNN student also running my program in Badagry, We got information that some of our student colleagues from ABU Zaria were kidnapped, around 17 of them. Someone tried to escape and was shot. The wounded person and a woman with a baby were left behind by the kidnappers.”

Students of the department listed the victims to include Okafor Grace, Kyenpia Bulus, Dickson Afolabi, Jemimah Badmus, Aliyu. S. Adamu, Simnom Praise, Ziya Asoji, Elizabeth John, Victor Agbo, and Precious Mutum.

• Adapted from a report by ABU’s portal, The Abusites.