Rescued UTME Candidates: We Gave Bandits Soft Drinks, Paid Ransom,Say Negotiators

Parents and relatives of the released seven abducted Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates and eight passengers who were abducted in a bus owned by Benue Links Nigeria Limited on Makurdi-Otukpo Road on April 15, 2026, say they gave kidnappers cartons of soft drinks and paid ransom to secure the victims’ release.

The freed abductees spent four days in the bandits’ den.

LEADERSHIP recalls that on Sunday, Benue State commissioner of police, Emenari Ifeanyi, said  all the passengers had regained their freedom following coordinated rescue operations.

Ifeanyi added that the joint operation involved the police, the military, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Civil Defence, local vigilantes and other stakeholders, under the directive of the inspector-general of police (IGP).

But he did not reveal the details of the operation or how they were rescued.

However, fresh facts emerged that N3.6 million raised by the victims’ parents and relatives was paid as ransom to the kidnappers camping in one of the Benue forests before they were released.

Three negotiators who facilitated the ransom payment told LEADERSHIP that they also bought cartons of soft drinks and handed them over to the bandits to meet one of their conditions.

The negotiators who pleaded anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue said, “The kidnappers gave strict instructions, including bringing additional items such as soft drinks worth N30,000, before they would even consider releasing the captives.”

According to them, after the money was raised, they went to the bandits’ camp and delivered the ransom, including the drinks.

“We parked our motorcycle at a designated point and trekked into the bush at night to meet the kidnappers, who were fully armed and carried out careful checks on the money before accepting it,” one of them said.

Benue State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Udeme Edet, did not respond or return calls sent to her phone to confirm the claim of ransom payment to the bandits, which led to the release of the abductees.

Benue State governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, had on Sunday, while receiving the freed passengers, appealed to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to make special arrangements to enable the eight rescued UTME candidates to sit for their exams.