Suspected bandits have abducted passengers, including candidates sitting for the ongoing Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination, along the Makurdi–Otukpo highway in Benue State.
According to reports, the victims were travelling in a Benue Links bus from Makurdi to Otukpo when they were attacked on Wednesday night, April 15.
A source who spoke anonymously said the bus, carrying about 18 passengers, was ambushed around 8pm near Otukpo by armed men who forced most of the occupants into the bush. The passengers were reportedly young people heading to Otukpo to take their JAMB exams scheduled for Thursday.
The source added that the driver and one passenger managed to escape the attack.
Confirming the incident, the Benue State Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, said 14 passengers were abducted while one person escaped.
He stated that he was already in Otukpo coordinating security operations alongside divisional police officers and other teams deployed to search the surrounding bush areas.
The police commissioner also noted that investigations had begun into the circumstances of the trip, stressing that the Benue Links transport company has a policy prohibiting night travel, but the driver allegedly picked up passengers after official hours.
He assured that security operatives are currently on the ground and working to rescue the abducted victims safely.
