Former presidential candidate Peter Obi described the kidnapping of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination candidates as a damning indictment of leadership failure and called for urgent rescue efforts.
Unidentified gunmen seized at least 14 UTME candidates and other passengers on April 16 along the Makurdi-Otukpo road in Benue State. The candidates travelled in a commercial bus to sit for their examinations in Otukpo. Authorities later confirmed the driver’s arrest as part of early investigations.
Former presidential candidate Peter Obi responded on Friday through his verified X account. He condemned the abduction without delay. Obi stated, “The news of the abduction of innocent UTME candidates in Benue State is not just heartbreaking but a damning indictment of the failure of leadership and the collapse of security in our nation.”
He added that young Nigerians who pursued education now faced terror. Obi noted, “Young Nigerians striving for an education are being met with terror.” He further highlighted national education statistics.
Obi declared, “In a country where the share of tertiary graduates is already painfully low (about 1 percent) which is far below peers like Indonesia (about 13 percent) and South Africa (around 10 percent). This is unacceptable. We cannot afford to lose even one more student to violence.”
Moreover, Obi criticised those in authority for misplaced focus. He said, “Those entrusted with protecting these young students appear increasingly preoccupied with the next election, projecting strength and power to rig elections, rather than deploying that same power and agencies to secure our roads, prevent these crimes, and rescue the abducted children who should not be in the hands of criminals but in examination halls.”
Obi described the event as part of a larger pattern. He stated, “This is no longer an isolated tragedy. It is a pattern. It is a national crisis. And it demands urgent, decisive, and responsible action, not excuses, not silence, but leadership that matches the scale of the emergency this deserves.”
