Police debunk abduction of travelers on Abuja-Kaduna Highway

Kaduna Police authorities have debunked reports of the abduction of scores of persons by suspected bandits along the Kaduna-Abuja highway.

It could be recalled that a section of the media reported on Tuesday that bandits abducted about 30 persons on the Kaduna-Abuja highway on Sunday.

In a statement on Tuesday, debunking the story the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mansir Hassan, admitted that there was a heavy gun duel between security operatives and bandits who attempted to cross the Kaduna-Abuja highway at Dogon Fili area heading towards Jere axis on January 6th, during which some of the bandits escaped with bullet wounds.

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The statement explained that in the course of the gun battle, six persons plying the highway sustained varying degrees of injuries and were rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

But insisted that nobody was kidnapped by the bandits as wrongly reported in some sections of the media.

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The police spokesman identified the victims as Jibrin Tasiu, Jummai Abubakar, Zafira Abubakar, Abdulkarim Nurudeen, Lance Corporal Chinedu Moneke, and Ayo James.

The police spokesman also assured that the Kaduna-Abuja highway has been fortified for the use of commuters.

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Kaduna is one of several states in northwestern and central Nigeria terrorized by criminal gangs, locally known as bandits, who raid villages, kill and abduct residents as well as burn homes after looting them.