Armed men have kidnapped 28 people travelling to an annual Islamic event in Nigeria's central Plateau state, local police confirmed.
The victims, including women and children, were ambushed in their bus on Sunday night as it was driving between villages.
Police spokesperson Alabo Alfred stated that the authorities have deployed assets to the affected area to ensure the safe rescue of those abducted.
News of the abductions surfaced just a day after Nigerian authorities announced the release of the remaining 130 schoolchildren and teachers from a separate mass kidnapping at a Catholic boarding school in Niger state last month.
A journalist based in Plateau state reported that families of the victims began receiving ransom demands shortly after the incident.
The police remain silent regarding the identity of the possible perpetrators, but kidnapping for ransom by criminal gangs has become alarmingly common across parts of northern and central Nigeria.
Despite the illegal nature of paying ransom, many families feel that sending money is the only viable option to ensure the safety of abducted loved ones. This incident is not directly related to the long-lasting Islamist insurgency in the northeast of Nigeria, where jihadist groups have been active for more than a decade.
International attention on Nigeria's security issues intensified recently after US President Donald Trump claimed that Christians are being targeted and threatened military intervention. Nigeria's federal government has acknowledged security challenges, denying that there is a focus on persecuting Christians.
On Monday, Information Minister Mohammed Idris remarked that tensions with the US regarding security and collective fears of persecution have largely been resolved, leading to improved relations. He further indicated that trained forest guards would be deployed to safeguard forests and remote areas known as havens for criminal gangs, supplementing existing army operations.
Additional reporting by Abayomi Adisa and BBC Monitoring
