By Jubril Bada
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The Federal College of Agriculture, Akure (FECA), has said it did not disown the two students recently kidnapped while serving as labourers on a farmland within the institution.
Rather, the authorities explained that they only clarified the students’ status as persons who graduated from the College and were then undergoing their Industrial Attachment (IT).
The FECA in a letter to The Hope Newspaper over the weekend, protested against a recent headline of a story in the newspaper, on the subject, titled, “FECA disowns abducted students, says they are graduates”, describing it as misleading and as such, demanded an apology.
However, it is confirmation that when The Hope broke the news of the two students’ kidnap three weeks ago, the Police confirmed to our correspondent that the victims were students of the College but all efforts to hear from the FECA authorities were rebuffed.
In its rebuttal to The Hope’s follow-up story which seemingly indicated that the authorities disowned the abducted students, however, the FECA Provost stated, “This headline misrepresents the institution’s official stance and creates an unfair perception of the college before the general public.”
“It falsely suggests that FECA is denying its connection to the abducted individuals, whereas the official press statement issued by the college explicitly clarified that the victims are graduates currently undergoing their mandatory Industrial Training (IT), which is conducted outside the institution’s academic jurisdiction.
“It is disappointing that despite The Hope’s proximity to the college, it did not make any effort to seek clarification directly from us before publishing such a misleading and damaging headline.
“FECA remains deeply concerned about the safety of the abducted individuals and has clearly expressed its sympathy and support for their families.
“However, misrepresenting the college’s position to the public is not only unfair but also capable of causing unnecessary panic and reputational damage,” the FECA authorities protested.
Meanwhile, the abducted students are still to be released as their abductors are reportedly asking for N15 million ransom.