Abuja, Sep 5 (IANS): Nigerian police have said that they have launched a manhunt for gunmen who attacked buses conveying some travellers in the southern part of the country, whisking away dozens of them.

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 on Sunday afternoon by a team of policemen, Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, the spokeswoman for the police in Ondo, told Xinhua on the telephone on Sunday.

"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 travellers abducted by the gunmen was yet to be ascertained, as the rescue operation was still ongoing, Xinhua news agency reported.

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