Some persons were attacked by bandits who blocked the Abuja-Kaduna Highway on Friday. The Kaduna State Government confirmed that some persons were ‘kidnapped’ after the bandits blocked the highway.
The state government said the incident occurred at about 3:30 p.m “but security agents responded swiftly to distress calls and checked their operation”.
A former senator, Shehu Sani, had said on Twitter that he received a distress call from a traveler that ”the bandits blocked the road between Jere and Katari at about 4 p.m.”
He wrote, “I have just got a call that bandits have blocked the Kaduna-Abuja road, in between Jere and Katari village in this broad daylight. Scores of people were kidnapped while many have made a fast u-turn in the face of gunshots.”
The Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who confirmed the attack in a statement late Friday, said security agencies had not ascertained the number of those possibly kidnapped on the highway.
Aruwan said, “At around 3:30 p.m., the Security Operations Room, a 24-hour hub, started receiving distress calls of a blockage around Kurmin Kare area of Kaduna-Abuja Road and immediately, contact was established with the Commanding Officer of Operation Thunder Strike (OPTS), a Defence Headquarters outfit, and Operation Puff Adder of the Nigeria Police for immediate counter action.
“The troops and the police operatives swiftly moved to the general area, saw motorists stranded on both lanes, and subsequently cleared the road.
“The personnel after clearing the accumulated traffic saw one Honda car with Reg. No. RBC 864BL recovered with broken rear windscreen and another vehicle found empty with some luggage. From preliminary findings, the occupant or occupants may have been unaccounted for.
“Furthermore, beside the Honda vehicle, the following five citizens hidden in the forest appeared with their driver who confirmed they were complete having escaped in the commotion:
Rifkatu Yohanna
Rukkaya Umar
Hauwa Jibrin
Juliana John
Yahaya Aliyu
Babangida Lawan ‘M’ (DRIVER)
“As of this moment (9:40pm), the status of the occupant(s) of the Honda cannot be substantiated, and the veracity of the report that scores were kidnapped cannot be confirmed. The public will be briefed as soon as Government of Kaduna State receives operational feedback.”