Armed men have abducted 14 passengers in Benue State, most of them candidates of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in a late evening attack along the Makurdi–Otukpo road.
The victims were travelling in a commercial bus from Makurdi, the state capital, to Otukpo when the incident occurred on Wednesday, April 15, between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., just hours before their scheduled examinations.
The bus, said to be carrying about 16 passengers, was intercepted by gunmen who attacked the vehicle along the route. Only the driver and one passenger reportedly escaped the assault.
Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogiri, said the victims were en route for their examinations when they were abducted.
“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 in Benue State, DSP Udeme Edet, said she had not yet received an official report on the attack at the time of contact.
However, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ifeanyi Enemari, confirmed the abduction and said he was already leading a rescue operation in the area.
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“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 attackers forced the bus to stop before taking 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.
Enemari added that preliminary findings suggested the vehicle may have been operating outside approved hours, noting that the transport service typically does not run at night.
“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.
He assured that security agencies were actively pursuing the abductors and working to secure the release of the victims.