Daniel Otera
Barely seven days after a Benue Links bus was hijacked along the Eke-Elengbecho axis of Okpokwu Local Government Area in Benue State, the remaining 10 passengers and their driver have been released from captivity. Although their freedom brings some relief, the incident has rekindled public anxiety over a deepening safety crisis on Nigeria’s highways particularly when the vehicle involved is state-owned.
Benue Links Nigeria Limited, the state-run transport company, confirmed the release in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Johnson Ehi. “Benue Links Nigeria Limited is relieved to confirm the safe release of the remaining 10 passengers and the driver. They were held against their will by unidentified individuals but have now regained their freedom,” the company stated.
Twelve passengers were abducted on 22 June while travelling from Abeokuta to Makurdi. According to eyewitness accounts, the bus registered as 14B-143BN was attacked around 6:30 p.m. and diverted to an unknown location by armed men. Two victims were rescued earlier in the week, while the remaining passengers were freed after spending seven days in captivity.
The company noted that all victims appeared to be in stable condition and would undergo medical examinations and trauma counselling before being reunited with their families.
What remains unanswered, however, is how a government-branded vehicle, operating in a state grappling with recurring road-related abductions, was left without adequate escort or safety mechanisms.
This is not the first time commuters have faced life-threatening danger on Benue highways. According to a 2024 report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the North-Central region recorded over 317,800 kidnapping incidents between May 2023 and April 2024, with Benue flagged as one of the high-risk zones for intercity road abductions.
A separate analysis by SBM Intelligence published in August 2023 reported that 3,620 individuals were kidnapped in 582 incidents nationwide over a 12-month period, with ransom demands exceeding ₦5 billion. The report noted an 85 percent increase in road-based kidnappings between mid-2022 and mid-2023. Benue, Nasarawa and Niger emerged as consistent hotspots.
Benue’s geographical location sharing porous borders with Kogi, Nasarawa, and Taraba has turned it into a transit corridor for both commuters and criminal networks.
With under-resourced police posts and limited surveillance infrastructure, many of the state’s intercity roads remain ungoverned spaces. Transport operators, both private and public, are left to navigate dangerous corridors with minimal protection.
The stakes are especially high when the transport service is government-owned. For many citizens, boarding a Benue Links bus is not merely a travel decision, it is a vote of confidence in the state’s ability to safeguard its infrastructure. That trust, once broken, is difficult to restore.
Benue Links Nigeria Limited, established in 1988 by the state government, remains one of the few surviving state-owned transport firms in Nigeria. While the company offers intercity and interstate services nationwide, its reputation for safety has come under repeated scrutiny. In September 2023, gunmen abducted 11 passengers from a Benue Links bus travelling along the Ogbokolo-Otukpa axis in Okpokwu LGA. Two months later, 13 more passengers were kidnapped in an attack near Naka, Gwer West LGA.
Another deadly incident occurred in April 2025, when armed men attacked an 18-seater Benue Links bus near the Burnt Bricks area of Otukpo. The assault left the driver and one passenger dead, while a dozen others were abducted. These repeated assaults point to systemic vulnerability in the company’s operations. Yet, there is no public evidence of a comprehensive overhaul of its safety protocol, nor the introduction of critical features like GPS tracking or emergency communication systems.
Beyond the human cost, the economic consequences of highway kidnappings continue to mount. A 2024 analysis by SBM Intelligence revealed that between July 2021 and June 2022, kidnappers demanded over ₦6.5 billion in ransom nationwide, with over ₦653 million actually paid.
In Benue, both state-run and private transport operators have suffered disruptions. Although Benue Links has not published updated ticketing data, multiple incidents involving the company’s vehicles have reportedly led to a decline in public confidence. Passengers and drivers now speak of reduced night travel, increased fares, and a withdrawal from some routes deemed unsafe.
According to a 2024 report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigerians paid an estimated ₦2.23 trillion in ransom between May 2023 and April 2024, a figure that underscores the deepening financial impact of nationwide insecurity. The average ransom per incident was put at ₦2.67 million.