Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, on Sunday called on the management of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to reschedule the examination date for eight candidates of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination kidnapped last Wednesday.
Alia made the call on Sunday when he played host to the remaining 13 kidnap victims who were rescued in the early hours of Sunday at the old banquet hall, Government House, Makurdi.
The governor said the kidnap victims were victims of circumstances and must not be neglected.
Alia said, “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.
“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.”
The governor explained that 15 out of the 18 passengers who were on board the Benue Links bus were kidnapped last Wednesday night between Taraku and Otukpo in Gwer East and Otukpo LGAs of the state, respectively.
The governor further directed the state Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Paul Ogwuche, to take the victims to the State University Teaching Hospital in Makurdi for proper medical check-up and treatment before handing them over to their families.
The governor applauded the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, and all the heads of security agencies in the state for their efforts in rescuing the victims.
Alia recalled that security operatives in the state have shown tremendous diligence in the discharge of their duties, rescuing several kidnap victims across the state in the past.
While confirming that seven suspects have been arrested in connection with the latest kidnapping, Alia appealed to security agents to help flush out criminal elements dwelling in ungoverned areas across the state, saying, “Our people deserve to live in peace.”
Speaking earlier, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Ifeanyi Emenari, said the rescue was made possible through the collaborative efforts of all the security agencies and the communities.
Eighteen passengers, including the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination candidates, were travelling to Otukpo that Wednesday night when they were abducted by gunmen around 8 pm.
The UTME candidates, whose examination centre was in Otukpo, about 105 kilometres from Makurdi, had planned to spend the night in Otukpo before their early examination period. Unfortunately, they were kidnapped a few kilometres from Otukpo.
The management of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board had, in a statement issued on Saturday, denied that any of its candidates were among the kidnap victims.
But a relative of one of the victims, who did not want to be named and spoke to journalists in Makurdi on Saturday night, berated JAMB for not carrying out thorough findings before issuing the statement.