AT least 19 passengers were reportedly kidnapped by gunmen at Jor Community along Adoka-Naka-Makurdi Road in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State, on Thursday morning.
The passengers were said to be travelling in two vehicles when the gunmen intercepted them and forced them away into the bush.
However, four of the victims – a toddler, driver, an elderly man and woman – were let off the hook by their captors.
Witnesses told our correspondent that the released victims, an aged man and woman believed to be natives of Kogi State, narrated that the kidnappers armed with sophisticated weapons ambushed their vehicles (a Picnic Bus and Sharon Bus) and ordered all passengers into the bush.
They further narrated that while on trekking a certain distance, their captors decided to release both of them with the little baby on the basis of their ages.
Meanwhile, a community leader who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed that two commercial vehicles were hijacked and their passengers abducted along the Naka-Adoka road.
He noted that the attack occurred approximately 3 kilometers from Naka.
The community leader said he found out that each of the attacked vehicle had 12 occupants and that some occupants including the driver were set free by the abductors.
Similarly, a driver at the High Level Park in Makurdi confirmed the incident but said he does not have sufficient details.
The driver who preferred anonymity admitted that the road had been deserted for long, except for drivers from the High Level Park who still ply the route while traversing between Benue and Kogi States.
Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), High Level Unit, Yakubu Onu, confirmed that two vehicles from their park were involved in the incident.
According to him, the first vehicle was heading to Lokoja with nine passengers on board when it was attacked. Six of the passengers were abducted and taken into the bush.
The second vehicle, which was coming from Ankpa to Makurdi, was also attacked at the same spot near Naka, with eight passengers abducted.
Onu added that the driver and the three passengers who were spared from the first vehicle went to report the incident at the Naka Police Station.
He added however, that they were told to continue their journey, stressing that there has been no communication from the abducted passengers or any new information regarding the second vehicle coming from Ankpa.
The NURTW secretary believed that a total of 14 passengers were abducted but witnesses who followed up victims to the police in Naka claimed that 19 passengers were taken away.
Police spokesperson for Benue command, CSP Catherine Anene, had yet to confirm the incident as she did not respond to calls or messages put through her telephone at the time of sending this report.