There was panic in Imo State, on Thursday, after suspected herdsmen abducted no fewer than 15 passengers.

The incident, which occurred on the Aboh-Umulolo Road in the Okigwe Local Government Area of the state, heightened the insecurity in the state.

Residents of the area told our correspondent that the gunmen ambushed a Sienna vehicle and a bus belonging to the Imo Transport Company, and forced them to stop.

Our correspondent learnt that while all the passengers and the driver of the Sienna were abducted, only three persons were kidnapped from the ITC bus.

An indigene said the suspects marched their victims into the Arondizuogu forest.

Two months ago, a Catholic priest, Marcel Onyeocha, of the Imo State University, Owerri, was abducted on the same road, while returning from Enugu.

The state police command had in a statement then confirmed that the priest was kidnapped by herdsmen.

When contacted on the latest incident, the police said they had no information yet about the passengers’ kidnap.

The command’s spokesman, Bala Elkana, said he had not been briefed on the development.

Punch