Motorists plying the Abuja-Kaduna route were stranded for hours as residents blocked the road in protest against recurring kidnappings.

As seen in a video shared on Channels Television’s X page on Saturday, residents blocked the Bwari axis to express their displeasure about incessant abductions in their communities.

The protest was also held to seek the federal government’s intervention in tackling the attacks.

#InCaseYouMissedIt: Protesters Block Abuja-Kaduna Highway Over Incessant Kidnapping#ChannelsTVNews pic.twitter.com/nfFWIBCcAp

— Channels Television (@channelstv) January 6, 2024

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These protesting residents, who reside in communities bordering the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), held placards while the women wailed.

According to Channels TV, the protest came after seven members of one of the communities were kidnapped in the early hours of Friday.

One of the residents said, “We can no longer sleep. Just this (Friday) morning, kidnappers kidnapped seven people from the Chitra community. This is just one of them. Within the last two weeks, more than 20 people have been kidnapped unchallenged. We are beginning to lose confidence in Nigerian security because we have been put to the wall.”

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Over the years, the Abuja-Kaduna highway has been a hotspot for kidnapping.

In 2022, several passengers were abducted on the evening of May 17, after bandits attacked motorists on the highway. In May 2023, gunmen also kidnapped five members of an Islamic group along the expressway.