At least 32 people have been kidnapped at a train station in Edo state, southern Nigeria, authorities say.
Among them were station staff and passengers waiting for a train.
Security forces, assisted by local investigators, have launched a search and rescue operation for the victims.
The latest incident comes a month before the presidential election where security is a major campaign issue.
Reports say that on Saturday a large number of people armed with AK-47s fired into the air as they entered the station in Igueben before picking up passengers and staff and taking them to a nearby forest.
Some of those who managed to escape suffered bullet wounds, eyewitnesses were quoted as saying.
A woman with a child also reportedly escaped and found her way to a neighboring community, where she was rescued.
The kidnappers also released two children as “it was believed that they thought the children would slow down their movements”, a resident of the area was quoted as saying.
Incidents of kidnapping for ransom, as well as gunmen targeting communities for political reasons, have been on the rise in recent years in Nigeria
