The Benue State Police Command has rescued the University and Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates who were abducted last Wednesday at Ikubi, Otukpo.
 
Apart from the driver of the ill-fated Benue Links bus and one other person who initially escaped, all other passengers in the 18-seater bus were kidnapped.
 
Some of the victims, however, managed to escape from captivity. At the time of the rescue, the 13 kidnapped victims had been rescued.

Among the rescued victims, eight were candidates due to sit for the UTME on Thursday, while the remaining five were random passengers.
 
The Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Enemari, presented the rescued victims to Governor Hyacinth Alia at the Government House, Makurdi, yesterday.
 
He said the police worked around the clock and did not rest on their oars since the kidnapping of the students. He commended the prompt intervention of the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, who, he said, deployed his intelligence team to the state, adding that other sister security agencies, as well as the Benue State Governor’s support, immensely helped in ensuring the success of their mission.
 
CP Emenari disclosed that eight suspects have been apprehended, with seven of them connected to the kidnapping.

Governor Alia commended the police and other security agencies for their efforts in the victims’ rescue. He said these bandits, who have been identified as herdsmen, would be flushed out.

Narrating her ordeal in the hands of the kidnappers, one of the victims, Odinakachukwu Jessica, said, “On the 15th of April, I left Makurdi at about 6 p.m. to Otukpo, where I was slated to write JAMB by 6 a.m. the next day. At about 8 p.m., our bus slowed down. Some people stopped the vehicle and ordered all of us to come down.
 
“They took us into the bush and we trekked until 2 a.m. before they allowed us to rest that day. At about 4 a.m., they again woke us up to go and drink water from a stream, which cows also drink from. We drank greedily because we were very tired and thirsty. They kept changing location, and we kept walking long distances as they flogged us. They gave us phones on Thursday evening, around 7 p.m. to call our parents and tell them to pay a ransom of N10 million for each of us.”