No fewer than 20 passengers, including candidates of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), were reportedly abducted by sea pirates along the Calabar waterways, South-south Nigeria, on Friday.
A naval officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident, saying gunmen ambushed a passenger ferry travelling from Calabar in Cross River State to Oron in Akwa Ibom State. He said the pirates struck while the ferry was on the waterway and whisked away the passengers at gunpoint.
Although the exact number of abducted passengers could not be immediately ascertained, it was gathered that many of the victims were candidates going to sit for the JAMB examination in Akwa Ibom State.
The Cross River State Police Command neither confirmed nor denied the incident at the time of filing this report, while police spokesperson Sunday Eitokpah said the Akwa Ibom State Command was better positioned to comment on the matter. The incident has heightened fears over the safety of waterways in the region, especially for candidates travelling for national examinations.
Source: Vanguard News
