Update: Photos of three of the victims abducted by bandits during raid on village along Abuja-Kaduna highway

Bandits have raided some houses at Anguwar Maji village in Jere town along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway and abducted 22 residents.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, patrolled the entire 163km stretch of the Abuja-Kaduna expressway for hands-on assessment of the security challenges and to personally supervise the operational deployment of officers drawn from the Police tactical squads to ensure the safety of travellers along the route.

Jere, which shares a boundary with Tafa-Sabon -Wuse in Niger State, is located on the ever-busy highway.

A resident of Anguwar Maji, Shehu Bala, who confirmed the latest abduction to Daily Trust, said the incident happened around 11pm on Sunday, April 3. 

He said the bandits, who came in large numbers, invaded some houses and whisked away 22 residents, including five women.

"The bandits came in their large numbers as some of them wore army uniforms. They moved from house to house and woke their victims up before they marched them into the bush at gunpoint,” he said.

According to him, the bandits operated silently in the community for over an hour.

He added that they only started shooting sporadically to scare people from coming after them after leaving the community.

Bala, however, said one among the 22 kidnapped victims escaped from his abductors while being led into the bush.

One Alhaji Kasuwa and his two wives were among those kidnapped by the bandits.