Less than a month after 15 passengers were kidnapped in Elibrada in Rivers State, heavily-armed gunmen on Thursday abducted another 19 passengers near Nigeria’s oil hub, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The Rivers State Police spokesman, Nnamdi Omoni while confirming the incident said the police have so far managed to rescue 12 of the victims who were on board a Rivers Mass Transit Company bus heading to the neighbouring city of Owerri, the Imo State capital.

“Security operatives are still combing the bush the victims were taken into,” Omoni told reporters.

Nigeria has recorded at least three attacks on commercial buses in the past four weeks with passengers kidnapped and released only after ransom has been paid to abductors.