In a troubling incident, gunmen stormed a university in Kogi state, abducting at least nine students from their classrooms, as announced by the state government on Friday. This occurrence underscores the pervasive insecurity gripping Africa's most populous nation.

Armed gangs continue to sow chaos in northern Nigeria, targeting villagers, students, and motorists for ransom, while security forces struggle to curb the menace.

According to Kingsley Femi Fanwo, the information commissioner of Kogi state, the students were taken captive during an assault on the Confluence University of Science and Technology late Thursday night.

Efforts are underway to locate and rescue the abducted students, with a joint operation involving security personnel and local hunters who possess intimate knowledge of the terrain. The gravity of the situation is compounded by the historical context of school kidnappings in Nigeria.

Initially perpetrated by the jihadist group Boko Haram, exemplified by the infamous abduction of over 200 students from a girls' school in Chibok, Borno state, a decade ago, this tactic has since been adopted by criminal gangs driven solely by financial gain.