Gunmen have kidnapped 14 passengers, including candidates of the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), along the Makurdi–Otukpo road in Benue State.
The victims were reportedly travelling in a Benue Links bus from Makurdi to Otukpo when the vehicle was attacked on Wednesday night.
Sources said that only the driver and one passenger escaped.
While confirming the incident in Makurdi, the Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogiri, said the victims were on their way to write their examinations when the attackers struck.
“The victims are young people coming to Otukpo to write JAMB. Security agents have been deployed and efforts are ongoing to rescue them,” Ogiri said.
However, the Benue State Commissioner of Police, CP Ifeanyi Enemari, confirmed the development, noting that he was personally leading a rescue operation in Otukpo.
“I’m in Otukpo now. My team and all DPOs are in the bush, and I am heading the operation,” Enemari said.
He explained that the attack occurred after the bus was intercepted by armed men, leading to the abduction of most of the passengers.
“What happened was that a Benue Links bus carrying passengers to Otukpo was stopped and attacked by hoodlums. Fourteen passengers were kidnapped, but one managed to escape,” he said.
The police commissioner added that the bus might have been operating outside its approved hours.
“Benue Links, as a policy, does not usually operate at night. From what we gathered, official operations had closed, but the driver, for reasons we are still investigating, picked up passengers along the road. When he got here, the incident occurred,” he added.
Enemari assured that security operatives are working to secure the release of the abducted passengers.
“We are on the ground to make sure the victims are rescued,” he said.
