Bandits block Gusau-Funtua expressway, kidnap many travellers

Bandits block Gusau-Funtua expressway, kidnap many travellers

An unspecified number of travellers have been abducted by suspected bandits in Zamfara State.

The victims were kidnapped on Saturday along the busy Gusau-Funtua highway after it was blocked by the bandits.

The bandits were said to have blocked the highway between Kucheri and Magazu communities in Tsafe Local Government Area of the state, shooting at moving vehicles.

The spokesperson of the Zamfara State Police Command, ASP Yazid Abubakar, confirmed the incident on Sunday.

Abubakar disclosed that an unspecified number of travellers were abducted during the attack, adding that the police and other security agencies are currently on joint rescue operations to rescue the abducted victims.

“The incident happened this afternoon. The bandits blocked the road and started shooting at the commuters, they kidnapped some of them.

“The command in collaboration with other security agencies are working hand in hand to make sure the kidnapped victims are rescued,” Abubakar said.

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He, however, denied the report that five mobile policemen were abducted during a shootout with the bandits

Armed bandits have recently carried out a series of attacks along the highway.

Zamfara is one of the states in northwestern and middle belt Nigeria grappling with the heinous and nefarious activities of armed non-state actors.

The rampaging bandits carry out mass abductions for ransom as well as burning and looting homes.

The gangs, whose enclaves are nestled in vast forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states, have also undertaken large-scale kidnappings of pupils from schools in recent years.

Recall that last month, the gangs raided four villages in Katsina state’s Sabuwa district, killing 25 people, mostly local vigilantes, in apparent reprisals over military offensives on their hideouts, according to a local official.

 

Bandits block Gusau-Funtua expressway, kidnap many travellers