Banditry: Travellers stranded as Niger residents protest abductions, block highway

n n

It was a harrowing tale of hardship for commuters on the ever-busy Mokwa-Bida highway as protesters blocked the road over claims of persistent banditry.

n

The Mokwa-Bida highway is a critical federal road corridor over 100 kilometres long, serving as a vital link for motorists travelling from the Southwest to the North.

n

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria, who was at the scene, reports that all entry points into Mokwa were blocked by the angry protesters.

n

NAN gathered that many travellers had been stranded since Saturday night.

n

One of the protesters, Saliu Mohammed, claimed that suspected bandits recently abducted 15 residents of the community.

n

This could not be independently verified.

n

He alleged that security agencies had not been able to rescue the victims.

n

Mohammed vowed that the protest would be sustained until the victims were rescued.

n

A commuter heading to Abuja from Ilorin, Joy Amaechi, lamented that she had spent five hours at Mokwa with no solution in sight.

n

She called for urgent government intervention to rescue the victims.

n

A driver with a popular mass transit company, Henry Nwachuckwu, said he had arrived at Mokwa at about 7am on Sunday.

n

As of the time of filing this report at about 10:30am, the protesters had yet to leave the highway.

n n