JUST IN: Gunmen kidnap 14 JAMB candidates in Benue

Some yet-to-be-identified gunmen have abducted 14 passengers, mostly candidates for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination.

The candidates were said to have been abducted during an attack by the gunmen on a commercial bus along the Makurdi-Otukpo Road in Benue State.

Sources privy to the incident said the candidates were on their way to Otukpo on Wednesday night to sit for their JAMB examination which was scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 16.

According to the sources, the gunmen carried out the attack on the travellers between 7 pm and 8 pm.

While the driver and one other passenger managed to escape, others were whisked away by the gunmen who attacked the state-owned commercial vehicle, Benue Links.

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Area, Maxwell Ogiri, told journalists that the victims were young people coming into Otukpo for their JAMB examination.

Ogiri said, “The victims are young people coming to Otukpo to write JAMB. Security agents have been deployed and efforts are ongoing to rescue them.”

Also speaking on the incident, the Benue state commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Enemari, said he is currently leading the operation to rescue the victims.

“I’m in Otukpo now. My team and all DPOs are in the bush, and I am heading the operation.

“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,” Enemari said.

He further noted that the commercial bus may have been operating outside the approved travel 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. We are on the ground to make sure the victims are rescued,” he said.