Unknown gunmen have abducted 18 traders travelling from Pandogari to Bassa in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State .
The traders were said to be travelling to attend the village market , which holds fortnightly , on Saturday.
A trader , who narrowly escaped the abduction, narrated how the incident happened to Northern City News in Minna on Tuesday.
The trader , who pleaded anonymity, said his colleagues were travelling in an 18 – seater bus when they ran into a roadblock mounted by the hoodlums .
According to him , the gunmen shot randomly into the air to scare the driver and force him to stop.
As soon as the vehicle carrying the traders stopped , the occupants of the bus were forced at gunpoint to abandon the bus and join another bus which was driven into the bush .
The eyewitness claimed that the driver of the vehicle he was travelling in had to stop a short distance away from the scene from where he watched the incident unfold.
“ This incident has now become a regular issue and no one is doing anything about it, ” he added
It was gathered that the gunmen collected the mobile telephones of their victims and had been using the same to call the victims ’ family members to demand ransom for the release of the captives .
The kidnappers were said to be demanding amounts ranging from N 200, 000 to N 500, 000 for the release of each of the traders .
When contacted , the Police Public Relations Officer , Niger State Police X-squad , Mohammad Abubakar, said , “ We have heard of the incident just as you heard about it, but we have yet to receive an official report . We are investigating the matter ; we will get back to you when we get an official report . ”