40 People Kidnapped By Nigerian Gang: Report
An armed bandit gang kidnapped over 40 people during a series of raids across 11 villages in northwestern Nigeria. Local officials are seeking increased security measures as kidnappings for ransom continue to be a prevalent issue in the region.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the ongoing security crisis in Nigeria, where weak state presence in rural areas allows criminal gangs to operate with impunity and threaten civilian safety.
An armed "bandit" gang kidnapped more than 40 people in northwestern Nigeria over the weekend, a survivor of the attacks and a local government chairman told AFP on Tuesday.Kidnappings have become a key moneymaking strategy for armed groups in Nigeria, including jihadists in the northeast and non-ideological gangs locally known as bandits who dominate the northwest.Alhaji Lauwali Abdullahi, a resident of Mayanchi district in Zamfara state's Maru local government area, said a gang attacked 11 villages in a series of raids between Friday and Sunday.Abdullahi blamed the attack on a bandit leader known as Kachalla Sa'idu."As I am talking to you now we have over 40 of our people who are in Kachalla's den," he said, citing raids in the communities of Tashar Mayanchi, Gwargawo, Jidda and Garagi.Bello Jabaka, chairman of the Maru local government area, confirmed the abductions to AFP, saying he was working to "lodge a complaint so…
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