Suspected kidnappers have abducted a driver and 18 passengers in Azumini, a town in Abia State, southeastern Nigeria.
The incident occurred last Wednesday, the Vanguard newspaper reported.
Azumini, a border town between Abia and Akwa Ibom State, is located about 15 miles south of the commercial city of Aba.
In recent years, due to the high security risk associated with the Ogoni section of the East-West Highway, many commercial vehicles plying between Uyo and Port Harcourt have abandoned it in preference to the Azumini route.
State police spokesman Timfon John, who confirmed the kidnapping to the newspaper, said police were “monitoring” the situation.
Vanguard reported that the incident involved an Akwa Ibom Transport Company (AKTC) bus.
According to the paper, the passengers were travelling on the AKTC bus from Uyo to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, en route to Abia State, when their bus was intercepted at Azumini.
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Vanguard newspaper quoted a witness as saying the kidnappers fired into the air, forcing the driver to stop the bus before other gang members emerged from the forest and abducted the passengers.
“The driver was the first to get off. The other passengers were ordered to follow him immediately. The kidnappers took them all into the forest,” the witness told the newspaper.
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The incident occurred almost a year after gunmen abducted eight corps members, who were travelling in an AKTC bus from Uyo to Sokoto State en route to Zamfara State, to participate in the mandatory National Youth Service when their vehicle was intercepted on a highway in Zamfara.
PREMIUM TIMES reported in March that two of the eight corps members were still in captivity nine months after they were abducted.
His continued captivity has sparked outrage among Nigerians and civil society groups, who have called on the federal government to take steps to secure his release.