Local government officials in Kaduna state in north-central Nigeria said gunmen kidnapped more than 100 people in the area between Saturday and Sunday.
Kidnappings for ransom by criminal gangs and terrorist groups are an almost daily occurrence in Nigeria, especially in the north, where authorities appear powerless to stop them.
A local official told Nigerian media that gunmen launched an attack in Kajuru-Station village in Kaduna State at around 10 pm local time on Sunday, killing 87 people, including women and children. The attackers also broke into stores and stole food and other supplies, officials said.
Officials said the kidnapping came a day after 16 other people – 15 women and one man – were abducted in another attack in the nearby community of Dogon Noma.
Five of them fled through the bush and returned after fleeing the attackers, village chief Tanko Wada Sarkin told Reuters in an interview. Bandits have attacked the community five times in recent days, he said.
Earlier this month, a mass kidnapping of more than 280 students occurred in Kuriga town, Kaduna State. The children are believed to be held hostage in the region’s remote forests.
After the kidnapping, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mohammed Malik Fall, issued a statement condemning the kidnapping and calling for the immediate release of the victims.
Fall called on the Nigerian authorities to provide more employment opportunities for internally displaced persons in refugee camps so that they do not have to risk venturing out and exposing themselves to gangs and terrorists.
Information for this report was obtained in part from The Associated Press, Reuters and AFP.
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
