By Desire Emmanuel
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Saturday, April 18, said those who were kidnapped in Benue State recently were not candidates traveling for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), but new police intakes returning from recruitment exercise.
JAMB, a a statement issued on Saturday by its Public Communication Adviser, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, said the victims were not students heading for the examination.
Rather, it said they were participants in an ongoing police recruitment exercise who were returning from Makurdi, the state capital, to Otukpo when they were abducted.
JAMB noted that security agencies had rescued seven of the kidnapped individuals while also expressing the hope that efforts would continue until all victims are safely freed.
The examination body lamented the spread of unverified information linking the incident to its UTME schedule, stressing that such assumptions tarnish the reputation of institutions.
It pointed out that the structure of the UTME makes it unlikely for candidates who know each other to be assigned the same examination centre or travel together in groups, further discrediting the earlier narrative.
According to JAMB, the rush to blame the Board without proper fact-checking reflects a broader issue of misinformation and the need for greater responsibility in public discourse. It urged individuals and media platforms to verify claims before drawing conclusions or assigning blame.
While emphasising that the victims were not UTME candidates, JAMB stressed that the incident remains a grave concern, noting that no Nigerian deserves to fall victim to kidnapping regardless of their purpose of travel.
