Suspected gunmen have abducted some students travelling for the 2026 unified tertiary matriculation examination (UTME) along the Makurdi-Otukpo road in Benue state.
Anene Sewuese, police spokesperson in Benue, confirmed the incident on Thursday but did not give details.
“You said you want to confirm. It is confirmed,” she told TheCable in a telephone call.
TheCable understands that the candidates were among other travellers when their bus was attacked on Wednesday night.
According to multiple reports, the victims were mostly young girls and boys travelling to their examination centres.
PUNCH reports that one of the passengers and the driver of the bus escaped the abduction, adding that Ifeanyi Emenari, Benue commissioner of police, reported that 14 passengers were abducted.
The commissioner of police reportedly said the command has 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.
On Tuesday, Tunji Disu, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), ordered the deployment of rapid response teams across CBT centers in 15 states.
