Police say incident not formally reported.

At least 20 people have been kidnapped on Kaduna-Abuja expressway between Sabon Akilibu and Tsohon Akilibu village on Wednesday.

Last week, a member of the House of Representatives, Garba Durbunde, was kidnapped at Rijana village area of the road and released a day after following payment of N6million ransom.

According to unconfirmed reports, the kidnappers stopped many vehicles, gathered over 20 hostages and led them into the bush.

Narrating the incident, a Facebook user, Danjuma Sarki, said the abduction occurred around 1pm on Wednesday and the kidnappers were carrying sophisticated weapons.

“Today, Wednesday 7th of June 2017, over twenty, (20) people, men and women were kidnapped in broad daylight around 1:00pm between Sabon Akilibu and Tsohon Akilibu village along Kaduna-Abuja expressway, amongst them are my friend and brother Kazah Bulus (Kazzy), my Comrades El-hajj Idrees Goga, Simon Terna and Al-Amin.

“According to one of the victims, a commercial driver, who miraculously escaped, the kidnappers who were armed with sophisticated weapons had a field day on the road, stopping vehicles indiscriminately, until they gathered over twenty people before they walked them into the nearby bush like a flock of sheep without any resistance from security agents.

“Up to now, no news about them yet. This incident is one too many. More than 40 people in a span of two weeks. The Kidnappers are becoming emboldened day by day. I believe they must have increased their rate of settlement to those that are supposed to protect us.

“It is so sad and scary the way the Abuja-Kaduna road which is the major gate way to Abuja from the North West states of Nigeria has become a den of Kidnappers. Nigerians plying that road have become so helpless and at the mercy of God.

“Please let’s put them, Kaduna State and Nigeria, in prayers for God to help us put an end to this avoidable menace,” Mr Sarki wrote.

Spokesman to Kaduna Police Command, Aliyu Usman, told DAILY NIGERIAN on Thursday that they were yet to receive formal complaint on the issue.

Mr Usman, an assistant superintendent of police, said the command was only aware of the incident on social media, noting that they were trying to verify the authenticity of the information.

“It is better to report such incidents to police than post on social media. Once reported, we promptly bolt into action.

“Nevertheless, we are trying to verify the authenticity of the information before taking appropriate action,” he added.