{"id":5215,"date":"2025-04-04T12:10:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T12:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/?p=5215"},"modified":"2025-04-04T12:10:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T12:10:01","slug":"gunmen-hijack-fully-loaded-bus-kill-driver-kidnap-passengers-in-otukpo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/2025\/04\/04\/gunmen-hijack-fully-loaded-bus-kill-driver-kidnap-passengers-in-otukpo\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunmen Hijack Fully Loaded Bus, Kill Driver, Kidnap Passengers In Otukpo."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"mvp-site\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div id=\"mvp-site-wall\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div id=\"mvp-site-main\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div id=\"mvp-main-body-wrap\" class=\"left relative\">\n<article id=\"mvp-article-wrap\">\n<div id=\"mvp-article-cont\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div class=\"mvp-main-box\">\n<div id=\"mvp-post-main\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div class=\"mvp-post-main-out left relative\">\n<div class=\"mvp-post-main-in\">\n<div id=\"mvp-post-content\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div id=\"mvp-content-wrap\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div class=\"mvp-post-soc-out right relative\">\n<div class=\"mvp-post-soc-in\">\n<div id=\"mvp-content-body\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div id=\"mvp-content-body-top\" class=\"left relative\">\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\" class=\"left relative\">\n<p>Tragedy struck in Ikobi, Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State on Thursday night as gunmen hijacked a fully loaded Benue Links bus, killing the driver and kidnapping all passengers on board.<\/p>\n<p>The gunmen, however, left a toddler behind.<\/p>\n<p>The assailants ambushed the bus along the highway, fatally shooting the driver before forcibly taking the passengers into the bush. However, a young boy was reportedly spared by the kidnappers.<\/p>\n<p>Although, authorities are yet to issue an official statement on the incident, security agencies have been alerted and are said to be tracking the whereabouts of the victims.<\/p>\n<p>Reacting to the latest attack, the president of Ochetoha K\u2019Idoma youth wing, Mike Magaji, decried the inaction of the state government over the killings in the state.<\/p>\n<p>He said the governor did not make any meaningful speech during his visit to Otukpo on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cIt is heartbreaking that our people continue to live in fear while the government remains silent. How many more lives must be lost before decisive action is taken?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe governor\u2019s visit to Otukpo was a disappointment. Our people expected leadership, not vague reassurances. We need a clear plan to end these attacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government must rise up to its responsibilities. We cannot continue to mourn our people daily while those in power look the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When contacted, the Benue Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, who said she was yet to confirm the incident as of the time of filing this report.<\/p>\n<div class=\"heateorSssClear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"heateor_sss_sharing_container heateor_sss_horizontal_sharing\" data-heateor-sss-href=\"https:\/\/dailypost.ng\/2025\/04\/04\/gunmen-hijack-fully-loaded-bus-kill-driver-kidnap-passengers-in-otukpo-benue\/\">\n<div class=\"heateor_sss_sharing_title\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tragedy struck in Ikobi, Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State on Thursday night as gunmen hijacked a fully loaded Benue Links bus, killing the driver and kidnapping all passengers on board. The gunmen,&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5217,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5215\/revisions\/5217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}