Benue: ‘They threatened us with guns, beat us with cutlasses’ — JAMB candidate recounts abduction

A rescued candidate of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Agatha Buter, has shared a chilling account of the ordeal she and other passengers went through after gunmen attacked a Benue Links bus along the Makurdi–Otukpo highway.

Agatha was among those abducted last Wednesday while travelling from Makurdi to Otukpo in an 18-seater vehicle.

Among the victims were eight JAMB candidates heading to Otukpo to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) when they were taken by the attackers.

Following their release, the victims were taken to the Benue State Government House, where they were received by Governor Hyacinth Alia.

‘My ordeal’

Recounting their experience in captivity, Agatha revealed that they faced intense threats and physical violence from their captors.

“They threatened us with guns and bullets and beat us with cutlasses to force our parents to raise the ransom of N10 million they demanded,” she said.

She noted that the male victims endured harsher treatment during the incident.

“The boys among us suffered the most. They were beaten repeatedly with cutlasses because the kidnappers were pushing for the ransom,” she explained.

Agatha further alleged that the attackers were armed herdsmen operating from a forest hideout.

She also disclosed that they were barely fed throughout their time in captivity.

“They gave us gari with salt and sometimes mangoes. On the third day, we had no food and were forced to drink unsafe water,” she said.

Describing the incident as traumatic, she said the experience felt unreal and left them emotionally distressed.

Agatha, however, appreciated the efforts of security operatives and the Benue State Government, stating that their intervention played a key role in securing their freedom.