The victims were kidnapped while travelling in a commercial bus along the route in Benue State.
Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has called on the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to reschedule the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) for eight candidates who were among victims abducted last Wednesday along the Makurdi–Otukpo road.
The victims were kidnapped while travelling in a commercial bus along the route in Benue State.
On Sunday, troops of the Nigerian Army rescued the remaining abductees from a forest in Okere ward, Ohimini Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking at the Government House in Makurdi, Governor Alia said 15 persons were initially taken during the attack, while two of them escaped separately.
According to Punch Newspaper, the governor confirmed that all remaining victims were rescued in the early hours of Sunday.
“Many of the students were travelling to Otukpo. Seven were regular passengers, and 15 were kidnapped that fateful day. One of the victims escaped, and another one escaped the following day,” Alia reportedly said.
“Today, all the remaining 13 kidnap victims were rescued by the security agents with the cooperation of the communities.
“I call on JAMB to look into the case of the eight young students and reschedule dates for them to write their examination.”
However, the Benue State Police Command had earlier said the abducted passengers were not UTME candidates.
Police spokesperson Udeme Edet described reports linking the victims to the examination as “misinformation and incorrect.”
Similarly, JAMB also clarified that the victims were not UTME candidates.
The board’s Public Communications Adviser, Fabian Benjamin, said the travellers had gone to Makurdi for an ongoing police recruitment exercise and were returning to Otukpo when the incident occurred.
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