Security forces launch man-hunt as fresh attack deepens anxiety over Benue’s rising kidnappings
A Benue Links commercial bus carrying dozens of travellers was ambushed on Sunday evening along the Otukpo–Otukpa Road in Okpokwu Local Government Area, with gunmen robbing the occupants and marching every passenger into the surrounding bush.
Eyewitnesses said the attack unfolded about 6:30 p.m. near the Eke junction. Armed men blocked the highway, forced the fully loaded bus to stop, and stripped the victims of cash, phones and other valuables before disappearing with them on foot.
Comrade Austin Agada, state chairman of the All Progressives Congress, happened upon the scene minutes after the assault and alerted security agencies. A combined team of police, soldiers and local vigilantes has since combed the area in a search-and-rescue operation that continued through the night.
Police spokesperson Catherine Anene confirmed the hijacking and said investigators are “pursuing credible leads” to locate the captives and arrest the attackers. She declined to disclose the number of abductees but stressed that “every resource is being deployed.”
Sunday’s kidnapping comes barely three weeks after President Bola Tinubu visited Makurdi, pledging tougher action against banditry and ordering security chiefs to crush the armed groups terrorising Benue’s roads and farmlands. Residents say the latest incident underscores how brazen the gangs have become despite repeated crackdowns.
“We cannot keep living like this,” a distraught relative of one passenger told reporters outside Benue Links’ Otukpo terminal. “Our people are being taken in broad daylight. The government must act faster.”
As night fell, anxious families gathered at nearby police posts and hospital gates, waiting for news. Security analysts warn that unless highway patrols are expanded and intelligence sharing improves, kidnappers will continue to target the state’s busy transport corridors.
Authorities urged commuters to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity, while promising that efforts to rescue the abducted passengers “will not relent until they are safely returned.”
