There was pandemonium on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway on Monday evening as kidnappers in their numbers took centre stage of the busy highway robbing and kidnapping several people.
According to eye witness reports, before they could apply brakes, several vehicles crashed because of the speed with which the drivers were moving. Distress calls were later put across to different security agencies to rescue the victims.
The Nigerian Army later responded by dispatching about three truckloads of soldiers.
However, the dare devil kidnappers operated for about 30 minutes on the highway without intervention of security agents.
Before a team of soldiers and police officers arrived, many travellers had been abducted and taken into the bush, witnesses said.
Amongst them were occupants of a Toyota Hilux truck and a Toyota Corolla sedan. Some other vehicles were riddled with bullets, witnesses said.
Police and military spokespersons did not return separate calls seeking comments late Monday.
The highway has remained one of the most dangerous in the country with rampant kidnapping and robbery happening there frequently.
The police regularly conduct raids of remote villages on the highway’s fringes, but the kidnappers usually regroup shortly afterwards.