Militias Intercept 10 Passengers At Taraba/Benue Border

There is uneasy calm on Taraba-Benue border along Wukari – Zaki Biam Highway as gunmen suspected to be militia group operating in Benue State intercepted a bus with 10 passengers heading from Wukari to Zaki Biam.

The bus was stopped few minutes after it took off with the 10 passengers at Takum Junction in Wukari, the headquarters of Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State on Saturday at about 11am.

Wukari is the home town of Dr. Agbu Kefas, the governor of Taraba State.

The passengers, according a friend to the driver of the bus who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, were to stop over at Gboko in Benue State, and take another vehicle to Kwara State.

The friend revealed that the passengers were intercepted at Jootar, a major village at border from Benue side.

“My friend revealed to me that he picked the ten passengers at Takum junction in Wukari, among the ten, there was one woman. The gunmen came on motorcycles well-armed, they stopped him in the middle of Jootar town.

“He said the gunmen ordered him to come down from the bus, as soon as my friend came down, one of them went in and drove off, leaving my friend with the other gunmen who were on the motorcycles.”

LEADERSHIP gathered that people from Wukari and Jalingo the headquarters of Taraba State became agitated to know the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Some were visibly seen worried while making phone calls to stop their relatives from traveling on the road.

Efforts to talk to the Chairman of Wukari Local Government Council, Hon. Ismaila Dauda, to confirm the identity of the passengers failed as he did not pick his phone calls nor respond to our correspondent’s messages as at the time of the report.