ABUJA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Police authorities in Nigeria on Wednesday said they have launched an investigation into the abduction of at least 18 local traders who were taken away by gunmen in the central region of the country.
The police in Niger state, where the incident occurred last Saturday, said a special investigative squad had been on the case.
Local sources said the traders were travelling in an 18-seater bus from Pandogari town in Rafi local government area to Bassa village in Shiroro local government area of the same state when they ran into a blockade by the gunmen last weekend.
The gunmen stopped them mid-way, amid heavy shooting, said a security source. The traders were led into a waiting bus and driven toward a bush.
Most of them were women, only a few among them were men, said the source who craved for anonymity.
