Gunmen have abducted, the driver and 10 passengers of a popular transport company who were travelling from Jos, Plateau State to Onitsha in Anambra State.
NigeriaCrime.com learned that the driver and passengers were reportedly abducted somewhere along Eke highway in Benue State.
A relative of one of the hostages who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that the bus left Jos on Friday at about 7:00 am with 10 passengers, including the driver, but ran into the gunmen at Eke highway in Benue State at about 4:00 pm.”
It was gathered that the kidnappers contacted the transport company in Jos on Saturday for a ransom of N5 million per passenger and threatened to kill them if the money was not paid before Monday. Apart from Saturday’s phone call, no other call has been made to the company but relatives of the passengers have been contacted for ransom. The relatives of the victims had a meeting at the premises of the transport company on Monday and agreed to take a collective decision concerning the ransom and negotiation instead of an individual approach.
Although neither the Police Public Relations Officer in Plateau State, PPRO, DSP Alfred Alabo nor his counterpart in Benue SP Catherine Anene could confirm the incident it was further gathered that the gunmen led the passengers into the bush and forced them to surrender their phones, while the driver was mercilessly beaten as a punishment for trying to escape despite the roadblock he ran into.