ABUJA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- At least 25 vehicle passengers were abducted by gunmen in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kaduna on Thursday, according to a local transport union.

The abductees were traveling along the Birnin-Gwari road in Kaduna when the gunmen intercepted and ordered them into a bush in the area, said Danladi Duniya, divisional head of the National Union of Road Transport Workers.

"Maybe 25 or more people in total were kidnapped... I really can't say precisely. But I'm very sure they were not less than 25," Duniya said in the local Hausa language.

The victims were occupying five vehicles on the dangerous Birnin-Gwari route, he said.

A driver of one of the vehicles escaped while the passengers were led into a bush located near Maganda and Kirkoyi villages in the Birnin-Gwari axis, said the transport union head.