30 passengers have been reportedly abducted by bandits at Garin Gabas in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State on Wednesday.
It was gathered that the victims were in three separate vehicles comprising an eighteen-seater bus and two other vehicles.
The bandits waylaid the travellers along Zungeru Garin Gabas highway shooting sporadically to scare residents before whisking the passengers away to an unknown destination.
A resident of the community close to the road revealed that the assailants had advanced to Kundu forest in Rafi local government council area to rustle some cattle.
The Niger state police command was yet to confirm the incident at the time of filing this report.
Heavily armed gangs known locally as bandits have terrorised the northwest and central Nigeria for years, raiding and looting villages; but attacks have become even more violent in recent months.
The gangs have been increasingly targeting schools, kidnapping students to squeeze ransom from authorities and parents.
Nigeria has increased military operations in the main regions targeted by the bandits, but officials and residents worry they are fleeing to other areas.
Zamfara, Sokoto, and Kaduna states have restricted telecommunications services in some areas amid other measures such as bans on the transport of cattle and firewood, suspension of some animal markets and caps on fuel sales.
