Some of the victims of the incident, which occurred near Ifon, a town along the Benin-Owo expressway in the southwestern state of Ondo, were rescued Sunday afternoon by a team of policemen, Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, the spokeswoman for the police in Ondo, told Xinhua on the telephone.

"I can confirm to you that some of the victims were rescued during an operation by the police this (Sunday) afternoon. But I cannot give the exact figure of those rescued right now because our men are still working to rescue the others," Odunlami said.

According to her, the number of travelers abducted by the gunmen was yet to be ascertained, as the rescue operation was still ongoing.

The gunmen emerged from a bush in Ifon on Saturday evening, as two fully loaded buses returning from the neighboring Edo state to Ondo traveled along that route, local media reported on Sunday, adding at least 32 travelers, who had attended a funeral in Edo, were taken away.

Dozens of travelers abducted by gunmen in southern Nigeria. Photo Premium Times