• Gunmen attacked a Benue Links bus travelling from Makurdi to Otukpo and several passengers, including UTME candidates, were abducted.
• The Police confirmed that 14 passengers were kidnapped as the driver and one passenger escaped from the abductors
• Benue Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, is leading rescue efforts as security operatives have been deployed into nearby forests

Gunmen have abducted several passengers, including candidates travelling to sit for the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, 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 came under attack on Wednesday night.

A source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the incident, said the bus was carrying about 18 passengers when it was intercepted near Otukpo at about 8pm by suspected bandits.

The attackers reportedly forced most of the passengers into the bush.

According to the source, many of the passengers were young people travelling to Otukpo to sit for the JAMB examination scheduled for Thursday, April 16.

“Two people, the driver and one passenger, managed to escape. Incidentally, the passengers were mainly young men and women who travelled to sit for the JAMB examination scheduled for today (Thursday),” the source said.

The Benue State Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, confirmed the attack and said 14 passengers were abducted, while one victim escaped.

Emenari said he was personally leading the rescue operation in Otukpo.

“I am in Otukpo now with all my team and DPOs who are here in the bush and am heading the operation.

“What happened was that one Benue Links bus carrying passengers coming to Otukpo was stopped and attacked by hoodlums and 14 passengers were kidnapped but one was able to escape,” he said.

He added that the police had begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the journey.

According to the commissioner, Benue Links has a policy against night travel, but the driver allegedly picked up passengers after official hours.

“But as we are investigating, we are on the ground to make sure that the victims are rescued,” the CP said.

The Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogiri, also confirmed the incident and said security operatives had been deployed to the area.

“It is true, I’m just coming out from a security meeting, and security operatives have been moved into the forest to help rescue the kidnapped victims.

“The victims are mainly young boys and girls coming to Otukpo to write JAMB,” Ogiri said.

The attack is the latest in a series of security incidents recorded along the Makurdi-Otukpo road, where travellers have repeatedly come under attack in recent months.

Bandits kidnap six travellers on Shagba–Babanla road in Kwara

Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that suspected armed bandits abducted six people along the Shagba–Babanla road under the Igbaja Division in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Those reportedly kidnapped include Wasiu Wahabi, Gani, Abdulateef Meco and Alhaji Sarafa Raheem, who serves as the Chief Imam of Babanla town.

Residents said the attack occurred in the evening when armed men suddenly appeared along the route and forcefully took the travellers away to an unknown destination.

Witnesses reported that the gunmen operated for several minutes before fleeing the area with their captives.