The students, said to be returning home for the yuletide celebration were waylaid at Ago jinadu Axis, an area noted for criminal activities, especially kidnapping.
The development is said to have thrown the Ajowa community into a pensive mood just as parents of the victims are saddened by the ugly occurrence.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested the mechanic of a popular cream dealer in Ikare Akoko, the Late Augustine Okoye who died in the kidnappers’ den last week in connection with his abduction and death.
The late Okoye was allegedly tortured to death by his abductors despite collecting ransom from the family.
Wife to the deceased, Mrs. Bolaji Okoye had told the police that her husband’s mechanic simply called Segun was sighted in the bush while they were being held hostage.
Confirming the two incidents, Ikare area commander of Police, Muri Agboola, an Assistant Superintendent of Police said his men had been combing forests along the Akunnu-Ajowa Akoko Road to rescue the abducted students while the mechanic to the late Okoye had been moved to Police Headquarters in Akure for further interrogations.
We gathered that the abductors of four students of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja who were returning home for the Christmas and New Year celebrations have demanded N16 million.
The kidnappers who abducted the victims were said to have demanded the ransom before they would be released to their families.
The source further stated that the students, alongside their driver, identified simply as ‘Momodu’, had been warned not to take that route which is noted for kidnapping and armed robbery but he insisted.