The victims — 11 passengers and a driver — were travelling in a commercial vehicle belonging to the state-owned Benue Links Transport Company when they were ambushed at about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. 

The Benue State Police Command has launched a search-and-rescue operation using drones and ground troops to locate and rescue 12 people abducted by gunmen in the Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state.

The victims — 11 passengers and a driver — were travelling in a commercial vehicle belonging to the state-owned Benue Links Transport Company when they were ambushed at about 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. 

SaharaReporters had on Monday reported rhat the attack occurred along the Otukpo-Otukpa-Enugu highway, near Eke, a town notorious for recurrent incidents of kidnapping.

It was gathered that the armed assailants intercepted the vehicle, looted passengers’ valuables, and forcibly took them into the surrounding bush.

 The road, which connects Benue to Enugu, has become increasingly perilous, with at least three reported cases of abduction in the Ogbadibo/Okpokwu axis within the last month alone.

Confirming the incident on Monday, the Benue State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Udeme Edet, said that a tactical team, including anti-kidnapping units and drone surveillance units, had been mobilised to track the kidnappers and rescue the victims unharmed.

“On receipt of the information, police tactical teams, military and Benue State Protection Guard arrived at the scene, combed the bush and rescued one Paul Terna who escaped from the hands of the suspected kidnappers.

“Additional reinforcement has been sent to the location to locate other passengers as soon as possible.”

“There is no update for now, but the Commissioner of Police has moved to the area, even, though we have deployed drones in the Area," Edet added.

Meanwhile, the management of Benue Links had confirmed the abduction of passengers travelling on one of its vehicles. 

According to a statement released to journalists in Makurdi on Monday, the ill-fated bus departed Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Sunday, bound for Makurdi, when it was intercepted by gunmen.

In the statement, the company's Information Officer, Johnson Daniel, disclosed that the vehicle was carrying 12 passengers and a driver at the time of the attack.
The management also revealed that one of the passengers managed to escape from the abductors and later reported the incident to the police in Eke.