Gunmen have abducted at least 14 passengers, many of them candidates of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), along the Makurdi–Otukpo road in Benue State.
The victims were travelling in a commercial bus on Wednesday evening to sit for their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) scheduled for Thursday when the attackers struck between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
The vehicle, reportedly operated by the state-owned Benue Links Transport Company, was ambushed with about 16 passengers on board. Only the driver and one passenger escaped.
Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogiri, confirmed the incident, saying the victims were en route to write their examinations.
“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.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, initially said she had not received an official report.
“I’m just hearing it from you now. I’m going to confirm and get back to you,” she said.
However, the Benue State Commissioner of Police, CP Ifeanyi Enemari, later confirmed the abduction and said he was leading rescue operations.
“I’m in Otukpo now. My team and all DPOs are in the bush, and I am heading the operation,” he said.
“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 added that the bus may have violated the company’s policy against night travel.
“Benue Links, as a policy, does not usually operate at night… the driver… picked up passengers along the road,” he said.
The incident underscores rising insecurity along key routes in Benue and neighbouring states, where kidnappings for ransom have become frequent, particularly targeting travellers and students.
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