Five students of the Rivers State University (RSU), Nkpolu-Oroworukwu, Port Harcourt, were abducted in the early hours of Tuesday after armed men suspected to be cultists invaded their off-campus residence in Rumuchi/Rumuohia, Emuoha Local Government Area.
The incident occurred barely a week after students residing around the institution’s Emuoha satellite campus staged a protest over rising insecurity, demanding relocation to the main campus in Port Harcourt.
Despite the concerns, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Zeb-Obipi, had assured journalists on Monday that the university would not shut down the Emuoha campus or move students, adding that measures were underway to improve security, including engagements with community leaders and security agencies.
Tuesday’s abduction came just hours after those assurances.
Spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the kidnapping, describing the attackers as armed cultists who stormed the area around 2 am, shooting sporadically before whisking the students away.
“They were abducted by cultists. A group of five armed men invaded an isolated area of Rumuchi/Rumuohia, shot and took five persons to an unknown destination,” she said. “Tactical police teams have been deployed, and the Commissioner of Police is already on ground to coordinate efforts for their rescue.”
A female student who narrowly escaped recounted the terrifying moments of the invasion.
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According to her, the gunmen first killed the security dog guarding the compound before breaking in.
She said she initially mistook the gunshots for fireworks until she realised the gravity of the situation.
The student added that the assailants shot at her multiple times as she fled, but she managed to escape through a neighbouring gate. She said several of her colleagues were taken away during the attack.
As at the time of filing this report, police operations were ongoing in the area as security agencies intensified efforts to locate the abducted undergraduates and apprehend the perpetrators.