Buhari calls for arrest of killers of UNIPORT students

President Muhammadu Buhari has called for the arrest of all the suspects who kidnapped and murdered three students of the University of Port Harcourt.

Joy Adoki, Nelson Nwafor and Fortune Obemba were kidnapped on April 7, 2020, and were later murdered by their abductors.

UNIPORT, however, said only Adoki was recognised as an undergraduate of the institution.

The Rivers State Police Command had stated that the deceased were killed and buried in a shallow grave in the Etio community, Eleme Local Government Area of the state.

One of the suspected kidnappers, Friday Akpan, was arrested on Thursday and upon interrogation, he made a confession that led to the apprehension of two others.

The police also recovered one AK-47 rifle, three magazines and 72 rounds of ammunition from the suspected kidnappers.

Akpan, from Akwa Ibom State, confessed that two of his accomplices gang-raped Adoki before eventually killing all the victims.

“We held the three persons at the sand field. All of us, five in number, killed them,” he had stated.

Buhari asked the police to intensify the search for the remaining suspects in a bid to bring them to justice.

A statement by Buhari’s media aide, Mr Garba Shehu, said the President commiserated with the families of the students.

He said his regime was determined to end kidnapping.

“This administration will continue to equip the law enforcement and security agencies to bring to an end the evil activities of kidnappers in the country,” Buhari was quoted to have said.

The statement added that the President “further directs the police authorities to intensify the search for the remaining suspects and bring them to justice.”

He also extended condolences to the university’s management and the Rivers State Government over the “unfortunate incident.”

Buhari described the incident as sad and heinous, regretting that the “evil perpetrators have cut short the prospectively bright journey of these youths.”

The President prayed that God would comfort all those mourning the young students and grant the souls of the deceased eternal rest.