Gunmen Abduct 70 Travellers Along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Highway

Over 70 travellers have been reportedly kidnapped by gunmen along the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road on Wednesday.

The incident occurred around Udawa village after Buruku in the Chikun Local Government Area of the state.

According to an eyewitness account, the vehicles conveying the travellers, mainly traders, were attacked by a large number of gunmen in the morning. The attackers later took them away into the forest.

But authorities of the Kaduna State Police Command said they rescued 48 of the kidnapped victims.

The spokesman of the command, Mohammed Jalige, told Channels Television that operatives of the Buruku Divisional Police station, who were escorting passengers along the road, came under attack by an unspecified number of gunmen who opened fire on the moving vehicles.

He explained that the police operatives successfully repelled the attack through superior firepower before rescuing 48 of the passengers.

According to him, there was no casualty on the part of the police operatives and the attackers, adding that the rescued victims were in good health and later continued their journey.