Bandits on Tuesday afternoon kidnapped over 26 travellers along the Gusau-Sokoto highway.
The bandits who were said to have blocked the road around Kwaren Kirya village under Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State abducted all the passengers from a Toyota 18 seater bus and a Volkswagen golf vehicle.
A resident of the area who pleaded anonymity for security reasons told Channels Television that the situation is getting worrisome as the bandits now block the road daily.
“As I’m talking to you now, about 30 minutes ago, these bandits have blocked another side of the road. They cleared the passengers of an 18 seater bus and a golf, the situation is worrisome because it has become an everyday thing for these people to be blocking the road,” the source said.
He expressed concern about a village called Balge along the highway which he claimed harbours suspected bandits.
The source appealed to the government to deploy security outposts around the area to checkmate the activities of the criminals.
“There is a village when you pass that Kwaren Kirya called Balge, about 80% of settlers in that village are bandits,” the source added.
“There was a time they were chased out of the place but a majority of the people there were bandits. We just need the government to help us and station military forces around the area.”
Police authorities in the state are yet to comment on the latest incident.