Benue Links Nigeria Limited’s management has stated that the driver who transported abducted passengers—mostly Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, or JAMB, examination candidates—in an eighteen-seater bus from Makurdi to Otukpo has been taken into custody.
The management also explained that by starting the trip without permission and putting the passengers’ lives in danger, the driver had broken company policy.
The management revealed in a statement released by Ehi Daniel, the company’s information officer, that fifteen people were kidnapped by the attackers, while the driver and a few passengers managed to flee.
According to reports, the 18-seater bus was carrying people, the most of them were applicants who were supposed to take the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exam.
15 passengers were reportedly abducted. Two of the abducted passengers subsequently escaped, bringing the number of those currently unaccounted for to 13.
“There is a standing directive prohibiting all company vehicles from undertaking journeys beyond 6pm due to prevailing security challenges. The driver, acting without the knowledge or approval of management, removed the vehicle from the company’s premises, picked up passengers and embarked on the journey without due documentation or clearance”. Says the officer
As a result of this breach of protocol, the trip was not officially recorded and the company currently does not have comprehensive details of the affected passengers, aside from indications that a majority were JAMB candidates.
“The driver involved is presently in police custody and investigations are ongoing to ascertain the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
Meanwhile the Benue State Police Command, in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet confirmed the arrest assuring that efforts were on to rescue the victims.
