44 Passengers Abducted by Gunmen on Birnin Gwari-Kaduna Road

No fewer than 44 passengers have been abducted by gunmen along the Birnin Gwari-Kaduna highway.

The gunmen were said to have ambushed the passengers last Tuesday at about 5:30p.m. and yesterday at about 8:00a.m.

In the Wednesday’s incident, 21 people said to be traveling in  three Golf cars from Birnin-Gwari to Kano were abducted.

While last Tuesday, a Sharon bus said to be conveying 17 passengers and six other people in a trailer and a tanker were also abducted on the same highway.

Chairman of the Birnin Gwari branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Danladi Duniya, who confirmed the abductions in a telephone interview, said the victims were traveling to various destinations when the bandits stopped them on the road and took them to the bush.

"The travellers abducted Wednesday were traveling from Birnin-Gwari to Kano. Each of the three vehicles was carrying not less than seven passengers, totaling approximately 21 persons," he said.

Duniya further said in the incident  that occurred last Tuesday, a Sharon bus had 17 passengers, and was also heading to Kano when it was attacked along Kwanan Dutse on the Birnin Gwari-Kaduna highway and all the passengers abducted.

He said the victims, including men and women, were traveling for business and other things.

"Apart from the Golf cars and the Sharon bus, six other people traveling in a trailer and a tanker were also abducted by the bandits" Duniya added.

He said the gunmen have become a law unto themselves and they operate with impunity.

The union leader appealed to the authorities for urgent steps to be taken along that route before the bandits make the road impassable for economic activities.

When contacted, the spokesman of the Kaduna State police command, Mukhtar Aliyu, said he was still gathering information about the incident, promising to get back as soon as he gets the details.

He was yet to get back at the time of filing this report.