Gunmen – A father who was escorting his son to a computer-based test center for the ongoing 2022 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) has been abducted by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers in Edo state.
According to reports, the incident took place at about 7 am on the Benin-Lagos Express road axis of Okada in Ovia North East Local Government Area of the state.
The kidnappers were said to have taken the yet-to-be-identified man at gunpoint leaving his son stranded on the road. The son was eventually taken to the CBT center to sit for the examinations after the police were alerted and mobilized to the scene of the incident.
The State’s Police spokesperson, Bello Kontongs, who confirmed the incident, said the police had started searching the bush in a bid to rescue the victim unhurt.
The police further denied a misleading report making the rounds on social media, alleging that over 50 school children on their way to write the JAMB examination in Okada, Ovia North East, were kidnapped by herdsmen.
The force said it has not recorded such an incident in Benin or anywhere else in Edo state and informed the general public that the viral report is capable of creating panic and an attempt by the authors to paint the police and other sister security agencies in a bad light.