Suspected armed herdsmen abducted at least 17 travelers on Thursday evening along the Adoka-Naka Road in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State.
Yakubu Onu, Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), High Level Unit in Makurdi, confirmed the abductions. He stated that the attack involved two commercial vehicles.
The first vehicle, a passenger bus en route from Makurdi to Lokoja with nine people on board, was ambushed. Six passengers were taken into the bush by the gunmen, while three managed to escape.
Shortly after, a second vehicle traveling from Ankpa in Kogi State to Makurdi, carrying eight passengers, was also intercepted at the same location. All eight passengers were reportedly kidnapped.
“The driver and three spared passengers went to report the incident at the Naka Police Station and were advised to continue their journey. We’ve not received further updates from them,” Onu said.
The District Head of Naka, Chief Daniel Abomtse, also confirmed the incident, noting that it occurred about three kilometers from Naka town. He identified the hijacked vehicles as a Picnic bus and a Sharon bus, adding that some unhurt passengers were later released by the police.
Efforts to obtain a statement from Benue State Police PRO, CSP Catherine Anene, were unsuccessful as her phone line was unreachable at the time of this report.
