Fourteen passengers, most of them believed to be candidates preparing to sit the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), were kidnapped on Wednesday evening after gunmen ambushed a commercial bus along the Makurdi Otukpo road in Benue State.

The vehicle, a Benue Links 18 seater bus, was intercepted by armed men a few kilometres from Otukpo town at approximately 7 pm. The attackers forced the passengers off the bus and marched them into a nearby forest, while the driver and a small number of others managed to flee.

A source familiar with the incident disclosed that the victims were largely young persons who had travelled from Makurdi to Otukpo to write their JAMB examination scheduled for Thursday.

"The passengers were all marched into the forest. From what we gathered, most of them were students coming to Otukpo to write JAMB," the source revealed.

Benue State Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, confirmed that 14 passengers were abducted and that one victim escaped. He stated that he personally travelled to Otukpo to coordinate rescue efforts alongside tactical teams and Divisional Police Officers deployed to the area.

"I am in Otukpo now. All my team and DPOs are in the bush, and I am personally heading the operation," Emenari stated.

The Commissioner raised concerns about the circumstances of the journey, noting that Benue Links operates a policy against night travel.

"Benue Links, as a policy, does not usually travel at night. From the information I have, the company had already closed for the day, but the driver, for reasons we are still trying to ascertain, picked up passengers along the road. That is how the incident happened," he added.

Otukpo Local Government Area Chairman, Maxwell Ogiri, also confirmed the attack, disclosing that security operatives had been deployed into the forest to assist with the rescue operation.

"The victims are mainly young boys and girls coming to Otukpo to write JAMB," Ogiri noted.

The Makurdi Otukpo road has witnessed repeated attacks by gunmen in recent months, raising fresh concerns about the safety of travellers in the corridor.