Bandits on Tuesday evening returned to the Abuja-Kaduna highway and abducted scores of passengers in an operation that lasted almost an hour.

It was gathered that the bandits blocked the highway between Kurnmin Kare and Katari in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State and abducted passengers from commercial and private vehicles.

The incident occurred just days after a youth corps member traveling on the highway was killed in a cross fire between bandits and security agents.

Sources from Katari said the incident occurred around 4pm, adding that the bandits had in the early hours of Tuesday invaded Katari town where they also abducted 16 people.

It was gathered that security agents had been deployed to the section of the road after the bandits escaped with several passengers.

Kaduna State Police Command, through the Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Jalige said it is yet to receive any confirmation from the commander in charge of the area.

The about 155km Kaduna-Abuja highway has witnessed several attacks by bandits who block the road to kill and abduct passengers.

The road was, however, said to have been fortified by security agents following the March 28th attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train which resulted in the killing of nine people and abduction of over 60 passengers.

Daily Trust