Sept. 18, 2023

Gunmen on Sunday night attacked a Benue Link passenger bus and abducted at least 11 persons, multiple sources said on Monday.

The driver of the vehicle and four passengers were however said to have escaped after the attack which occurred at about 10pm along Ogbokolo-Otukpa road in Okpokpwu Local Government Area of Benue.

A competent source said that the kidnappers had initially demanded for N60 million, but came down to N16 million as ransom to release the passengers.

A similar incident involving two buses of the transport company occurred on Sept. 10, and 28 people were kidnapped.

A total of 26 of those abducted had been released while two are still with the kidnappers.

Mr. Omale Omale, the Commissioner for Power, Energy and Transport confirmed the development to newsmen in Makurdi.

He however said details of the incident were still sketchy.

Meanwhile, the Makurdi Zonal Centre of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), said among the passengers abducted was a staff member of the organisation.

The Zonal Director of the Centre, Mr. Pam Nyam, has notified the police of the incident and requested urgent action to rescue all the abducted passengers. (NAN)