Bandits have abducted a yet-to-be-ascertained number of travellers on the Gusau–Funtua expressway in Zamfara State.

It was gathered that the travellers were abducted after the bandits blocked the ever-busy highway in the early hours of Thursday, September 12, 2024.

A commuter stranded around the area, Yusuf Tsafe, disclosed that the bandits mounted a roadblock around the Tazame axis of the expressway.

Tsafe added that the gunmen in their large numbers with about 50 motorcycles, each carrying 3 persons, abducted an unspecified number of travellers.

“They entered the road at about 7 a.m. and till about 9 a.m., they were still there. We just parked by the roadside waiting for the military to clear the road. We are seeing the bandits taking people inside the bush.

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“The military guntruck moved to the area earlier. We were just hearing gunshots, but they are yet to open the road. Till now, no vehicle has been allowed to pass,” he told Channels TV.

Another commuter also confirmed that Magazu–Kucheri Road which is also the road linking Gusau to Funtua have been blocked by bandits on Thursday morning.

“The military men asked us to stop because the bandits blocked the road. We are still waiting for them to clear the road,” the commuter said.

Speaking on the incident, the Zamfara State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Yazid Abubakar, said additional troops, including the operatives of the Nigerian Police Mobile Squad, have been deployed to the affected areas to clear the road.

Zamfara is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorised by bandits who carry out mass abductions for ransom as well as burning and looting homes.

The gunmen, who maintain camps in a huge forest straddling Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Niger States, have also undertaken large-scale kidnappings of pupils from schools in recent years.

The Star