On Friday, ten individuals were reportedly abducted at the Taraba/Benue border community in Jootar, located in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State. According to an anonymous source, the driver of the vehicle managed to evade abduction and provided an account of the attack.
The source revealed that the driver of the Sharon bus recounted picking up the passengers at Takum junction in Wukari, Taraba State, where they were a total of ten. Their destination was Gboko, where they intended to connect to another vehicle heading to Akure.
The incident occurred approximately 2 kilometers from Takum, in Jootar, Ukum LGA, around noon on Friday. Following the attack, the driver used someone else’s phone to alert a familiar contact about the situation and subsequently reported the case at the Jootar police station.
Ezra Nyiyongo, the lawmaker representing Ukum State Constituency in the State Assembly, acknowledged receiving a report of the incident. According to him, the driver stated that he picked up the passengers from Wukari, Taraba State, and was transporting them to Gboko, with their final destination being Akure for menial jobs.
However, Victor Iorzaa, the Chairman of the LG, was unable to confirm the incident as neither the council Divisional Police Officer nor the Chief Security Officer had received the report. Similarly, the state Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Adesina, stated that the command was not aware of the incident at the time of inquiry.
