Hyacinth Alia has called on the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board to reschedule examinations for eight candidates of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) who were abducted in Benue State.

The victims were among passengers kidnapped last Wednesday along the Makurdi–Otukpo road. Security operatives later rescued them during an operation in a forest in Okere ward, Ohimini Local Government Area.

Speaking at the Government House in Makurdi on Sunday, Alia said a total of 15 persons were kidnapped during the Incident, with two escaping earlier and the remaining 13 eventually rescued by troops of the Nigerian army with support from local communities.

“Many of the students were travelling to Otukpo. Seven were regular passengers, and 15 were kidnapped that fateful day. One of the victims escaped, and another one escaped the following day,” the governor said.

“Today, all the remaining 13 kidnap victims were rescued by the security agents with the cooperation of the communities.

“I call on JAMB to look into the case of the eight young students and reschedule dates for them to write their examination.”

However, earlier accounts from authorities had disputed claims that the abducted passengers were UTME candidates.

The Benue State Police Command, through its spokesperson Udeme Edet, had described reports identifying the victims as examination candidates as “misinformation and incorrect”.

Similarly, JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin said the travellers were instead returning from a police recruitment exercise in Makurdi at the time of the incident. (The Guardian)

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