Gunmen abduct 14 passengers in Benue

No fewer than 14 passengers were reported to have been kidnapped along the Makurdi/Naka/Adoka road area of Benue State on Thursday.

According to a commercial driver, who wished to remain anonymous, the incident occurred between 10 and 11 a.m., approximately three kilometres from Naka, the headquarters of Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State.

The source revealed that the vehicles involved were a picnic and a Sharon bus, each carrying 12 passengers.

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The Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), High Level Unit, Yakubu Onu, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent, stated that the two commercial vehicles belong to their members at High Level Park in Makurdi.

He explained that one of the vehicles had left Makurdi and was heading to Lokoja on Thursday morning when it was ambushed by gunmen near Naka. The second vehicle, which was also ambushed at the same spot, was travelling from Ankpa in Kogi State to Makurdi.

Onu stated, “The first vehicle was heading to Lokoja with nine passengers on board, six of whom were abducted and taken into the bush.”

“The second vehicle was coming from Ankpa to Makurdi, and eight passengers were abducted at the same spot near Naka.”

The NURTW High Level Unit scribe added that three passengers were spared from the vehicle heading to Lokoja, and the driver, along with the three passengers, went to the Naka police station to report the incident.

“The driver called and told us that after reporting at the police station in Naka, he was instructed to continue his journey, but we have not heard from him since,” Onu said.

The monarch of Naka, HRH Daniel Abomtse, who also confirmed the incident, said that the gunmen ambushed the two commercial vehicles and took some of the passengers with them.

According to the traditional ruler, one elderly woman, a breastfeeding woman, and children, along with the driver of one of the vehicles, were spared by the gunmen.

The monarch said, “The incident occurred at Okpa, near Adoka, on the border of Gwer West LGA, and there is an ungoverned space around this area that has become a haven for criminals.”

The royal father, who identified some ungoverned areas in the region, appealed to the federal government to conduct aerial surveys of the coastal areas of Benue and Nasarawa states.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Catherine Anene, said she did not have the report.

“I don’t have this report,” she said.