Suspected bandits have allegedly abducted 18 students of Gamji College of Health Technology, Sokoto, who were travelling to their hometowns in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State, after attacking their chartered bus and killing the driver.

The students were reportedly intercepted by the attackers within the past 48 hours while travelling from Sokoto to Igboho in Oke-Ogun.

Sources familiar with the incident said the assailants killed the driver at the scene before taking the students away, with the abductors reportedly moving the victims towards the Mokwa axis.

An Oke-Ogun youth leader, who confirmed the incident but requested anonymity, clarified that the victims were students of Gamji College of Health Technology and not students of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, as earlier reported.

The youth leader said the students were being conveyed in a chartered bus arranged by their institution to take them to Oke-Ogun, specifically Igboho.

He said, “The driver was killed and all the students were kidnapped. They have reached the Mokwa side.”

The youth leader further disclosed that the remains of the driver had been buried, saying he was killed at the scene of the attack and buried on Saturday.

Other sources familiar with the incident put the number of abducted students at as many as 18, saying they were travelling to their respective hometowns in Oyo State when their vehicle was intercepted by the attackers.

The latest incident has heightened concerns over the safety of students travelling across states, particularly along routes that have witnessed repeated cases of kidnapping and other attacks.

It came barely days after 20 prospective National Youth Service Corps members were abducted by gunmen in Imo State while travelling from Ibadan to orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The corps members were travelling in two buses when gunmen attacked them along the Owerri-Onitsha Road in Umunoha, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

As of the time of filing, there was no official confirmation from the Oyo State Police Command on the alleged abduction or the condition and whereabouts of the students.