Suspected terrorists on Wednesday abducted several traders traveling to Kano from Birnin Gwari Local Government of Kaduna State.
A driver who witnessed the incident said that the gunmen blocked the highway between Birnin Gwari and Kaduna at Unguwar Yako forest where they abducted the traders, Premium Times reports.
The source who described the attackers as “bandits”, said the abducted persons were among dozens of travelers going from Birnin Gwari and neighboring communities in Niger State to Kano on routine business trips.
“We were traveling in a convoy with security escorts but they (bandits) abducted those who moved ahead of the convoy, which made them easy preys for the bandits.
“We came and met about four empty vehicles, while seeing the bandits moving into the forest with the captives. The soldiers are tracing them, we are stranded at a dangerous spot in the forest (Unguwar Yako) while the security escorts are chasing to rescue the abducted traders,” the source said.
The latest incident occurred less than a month after over 70 travelers were abducted along the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road in Kaduna State.
That incident on December 23, 2021 happened around Udawa village after Buruku in Chikun Local Government Area of the state.
The police spokesperson in Kaduna, Mohammed Jalige, did not respond to phone calls Wednesday afternoon to comment on the incident.
Locals in the adjoining states ply the Birnin Gwari highway daily with heavy security escort but that does not deter bandits and terrorists from routinely abducting travelers.
The Nigerian government has officially designated criminal gangs known locally as bandits as “terrorist” groups, a designation aimed at containing growing insecurity in the north.
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