Gunmen abduct 21 bus passengers in Niger

By Justina Asishana, MinnaSome gunmen on Sunday halted a Minna-bound mass transit bus and abducted 21 of 22 passengers on board.A breastfeeding mother was said to have escaped but even she said did not know why the hoodlums did not take her with the others.The Nation learnt that the attack happened about 2pm at Yakila village in Rafi council area of the state.Sources told The Nation that the gunmen stopped the bus and shot rapidly into the air, ordered everyone to disembark before marching them into the bush.The traumatised breastfeeding mother said the gunmen blocked the road before herding the 21 passengers into the bush.Passersby who met the empty bus confirmed the incident.Read Also;Gunmen kidnap seven on Delta highwayPolice spokesman Wasiu Abiodun was unavailable when efforts were made to confirm the incident.Attempts made to get the Commissioner and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transportation were also fruitless as their phones were switched off.But Director-General of the state Emergency Management Agency, Mallam Ibrahim Inga confirmed the incident.He said he saw the incident scene when returning from Kagara for the revalidation of his All Progressives Congress (APC) membership exercise.With him on the return trip was the Chief of Staff to the state governor, Inga said, adding that no government official was on the bus.Four persons were burnt to death on Sunday in a crash involving a 14-passenger commercial bus at Atoyo, inbound Ogbere on Ijebu Ode-Benin Expressway.Spokesman of Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) Babatunde Akinbiyi confirmed the incident in Abeokuta, the state capital.Akinbiyi said the accident occurred around 11:50 a.m., noting that it was caused by brake failure.A tanker loaded with black oil in-bound Benin through the Ijebu Ode-Benin Expressway, spilled its content on the road due to leakage from the tanker and had to stop when the attention of the driver was called by other drivers, Akinbiyi said.However, when TRACE, Federal Road Safety Corps and the police got to the scene, they had to divert and re-route traffic, so that inbound traffic to Benin could join the outbound traffic section.Because it is not safe for vehicles to drive on the black oil which has already covered the length and breadth of the inbound section, he said.
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