Gunmen abducted at
least 80 people, mostly women and children, in Nigeria’s Zamfara
state, a hotspot for kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs
targeting remote villages, residents have said.
The latest kidnapping took place on Friday in Wanzamai
village in Tsafe local government area in Zamfara, three
residents said on Saturday.
Zamfara is one of the states most affected by
kidnappings.
Musa Usman, whose 14-year-old son Ibrahim was among those
abducted, said children and women from the village were clearing
land for farming and collecting firewood when they were taken by
gunmen and marched into a nearby forest.
“The children from different households went to collect
firewood and few of them were going to farms in search of manual
jobs when they were abducted,” Usman told Reuters by phone.
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Rescue efforts under way
Zamfara police spokesperson Mohammed Shehu confirmed the
incident in a statement but did not say how many people were
abducted.
The police were working with the military and
community security guards to rescue the victims, he said.
Haruna Noma, another parent, said some of those taken were
from two nearby villages of Kucheri and Danwuri who had gone to
Wanzamai to clear land to farm.
The gunmen had not yet made ransom demands, the residents said.
Amina Tsafe said her daughter was also abducted and that
most of the children taken were aged between 12 and 17 years.
Kidnappers in Nigeria often keep their victims for months if
a ransom is not paid and also demand villagers pay protection
fees to be allowed to farm and harvest their crops.
Nigeria’s military has been bombing bush camps used by armed gangs, but the attacks have continued.
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