Some students traveling for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) were Wednesday abducted by suspected gunmen along the Makurdi-Otukpo road in Benue State.
Anene Sewuese, police spokesperson in Benue State, confirmed the incident on Thursday but did not give details.
Said she in a telephone call: “You said you want to confirm. It is confirmed”.
The candidates, it was understood, were among other travellers when their bus was attacked on Wednesday night.
Multiple reports disclosed that the victims were mostly young girls and boys traveling to their examination centres.
One of the passengers and the driver of the bus escaped the abduction, and that Ifeanyi Emenari, Commissioner of Police, in charge of the police Command in Benue State, reported that 14 passengers were abducted.
The Commissioner of Police reportedly said the Command had commenced an investigation into the incident, especially the circumstances surrounding the journey.
Maxwell Ogiri, Chairman of the Otukpo LGA, also said security operatives had been deployed to the area.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had said about 2.2 million candidates would sit for this year’s UTME, which started today across the country.
The examination is expected to be conducted across 966 computer-based test (CBT) centres nationwide.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tunji Disu, on Tuesday ordered the deployment of Rapid Response teams across CBT centers in 15 States.
