BREAKING: Five Abducted Rivers State University Students Regain Freedom

The rescue, carried out in the early hours of Thursday, marked a breakthrough in the efforts to locate the undergraduates who were taken from their off-campus residences by armed men suspected to be cultists.

Five students of the Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, who were abducted from the institution’s satellite campus in Emuoha Local Government Area on Tuesday, have been rescued unhurt following a coordinated security operation.

The rescue, carried out in the early hours of Thursday, marked a breakthrough in the efforts to locate the undergraduates who were taken from their off-campus residences by armed men suspected to be cultists.

According to the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, the victims were freed during an operation executed at Rumuodogo 2 by police tactical teams working alongside other security agencies and members of the community.

In confirming the development, Iringe-Koko stated that all five students, including one female, had been safely recovered and immediately taken for medical assessment. She also assured that security operatives were actively pursuing the suspects behind the abduction.

The police statement reads, “Rivers State Police Command wishes to inform the public that on 04/12/2025 at about 0100hrs, the five abducted victims — Prince London ‘M’, Azubuike Kelechukwu ‘M’, Elizabeth Aniete ‘F’, Onyebuchi Precious ‘M’, and London Sampson ‘M’ — who were abducted by yet-to-be-identified cultists from their isolated residences, have been successfully rescued unhurt.

“The rescue operation was conducted at Rumuodogo 2 Community in Emuoha Local Government Area of Rivers State by the Command’s Tactical Teams, in collaboration with other sister security agencies and with the support of the community."

The statement added that the rescued victims have been taken to the hospital for medical examination, while “intensive efforts are ongoing to track down and arrest the fleeing cultists/abductors.”

Their abduction had earlier prompted an immediate reaction from the institution’s management.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Zeb-Obipi, addressing protesting students on Tuesday, announced the temporary closure of academic activities at the Emuoha campus and directed all residents of the satellite campus to vacate “for the meantime” pending security improvements.

Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that panic gripped students of Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwu, Port Harcourt, after gunmen stormed an off-campus hostel in the dead of night and kidnapped five students.

The assailants, believed to be members of a cult group, reportedly invaded the private lodge in Emuoha Local Government Area around 2 am on Tuesday, shooting into the air before seizing their victims.

Iringe-Koko, in a previous statement, said, “On 2nd December 2025 at about 0230hrs, a group of suspected cultists, numbering about five, attacked an isolated area in Rumuche/Rumuohia Community, Emohua Local Government Area.

“The hoodlums shot and abducted five persons to an unknown destination.”