Trending 
Seven people kidnapped while travelling from Makurdi to Otukpo in Benue State were not candidates of the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board said on Saturday.
Security agencies rescued the seven victims, according to a statement by JAMB spokesperson Fabian Benjamin.
Benjamin said the travellers “had travelled to Makurdi to participate in the ongoing police recruitment exercise and were returning to Otukpo at the time of the incident.”
Initial reports had identified the kidnapped victims as candidates heading to sit for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.
Benjamin said the rescue “demonstrated commendable efficiency” by security agencies and expressed hope for “the rescue of the remaining ones.”
He criticised the tendency to blame government institutions without proper verification.
“It is regrettable that, in moments like this, there is a tendency to hastily malign government institutions, particularly the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), without proper verification of facts,” Benjamin said.
He added that “such premature conclusions appear, at times, to be driven more by a desire to assign blame than to seek truth” and “some individuals even attempted to link the incident to the Board’s examination schedule, despite clear inconsistencies in that narrative.”
Benjamin noted that the structure of UTME examinations makes it “highly unlikely for candidates who know one another to be assigned to the same centre or to travel together for the exam.”
He called on those who spread the false claims to “extend a public apology to JAMB for the unwarranted damage to its reputation.”
Benjamin also urged citizens “to cultivate the discipline of verifying facts before drawing conclusions or assigning blame.”
He said the board remains committed to its operations and “will not be deterred by unfounded criticism or the efforts of detractors.”
RESCUE OF KIDNAPPED PERSONS ERRONEOUSLY ALLEGED TO BE UTME CANDIDATES
The nation’s security agencies have once again demonstrated commendable efficiency with the successful rescue of seven of the individuals who were kidnapped while traveling from Makurdi to Otukpo. Initial…— Fabian Benjamin (@FabianB58246501) April 18, 2026
