TheCable

Kidnappers blocked Abuja-Kaduna highway four times at different points on Sunday, Daily Trust is reporting.

TheCable had reported how eight students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, were abducted when the kidnappers attacked motorists on that road.

The students, from the department of French, were travelling to Lagos for a programme at the Nigerian French Language Village (NFLV) in Badagry.

Apart from the students, an unspecified number of people were also abducted and with many feared dead.

Some residents of the villages around the road told the newspaper that the kidnappers blocked the highway four times in “swift operations”.

A resident of Akilubu simply identified as Joy was quoted as saying the first barrier was mounted around 4:00pm blocking the lane from Abuja to Kaduna and later Kaduna to Abuja.

According to Joy, two more barriers were set up at Gadan Malam Mamman and at a place close to Rijana town.

“All these were on Sunday evening and many people were abducted while some were killed,” she said.

“The gunmen made their way into the forest with their victims.”

Corroborating Joy’s claim, Ibrahim Jamilu, a resident of Rijana, said the highway was blocked four times.

“I cannot say how many people were killed, I know the highway was blocked four times on Sunday evening,” Jamilu was quoted to have said.

“A few months back, the road was safe but the truth is the bandits have resurfaced and the authority needs to act fast.”

Also, some members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) were quoted as saying they saw six corpses after Sunday’s attack.

This statement contradicts the account of the Kaduna government which said only two people were killed. It also said nine people were rescued after troops engaged the kidnappers in a gun duel.

Some residents of Akilubu said before the kidnapping incident, some girls were raped when they went to farm on Saturday.

“They raped the girls badly and abandoned one of them in the bush,” an unidentified resident was quoted to have said.

“Those that escaped rushed home to inform the men who later went to the bush to bring her home.”