More than 100 people, including women and children, have been abducted after armed gunmen carried out coordinated attacks on four villages in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara State.
The attacks occurred on Sunday and targeted communities in the Zurmi and Maradun local government areas, according to Zamfara State authorities and local residents.
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Zamfara State Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara, confirmed that more than 40 residents were abducted from Kanwa village in Zurmi Local Government Area.
Residents also reported that 37 people, most of them women and children, were kidnapped from the nearby Kwabre community during the raids.
A resident of Kanwa, who declined to be identified for security reasons, said the attackers split into two groups before storming the village.
“Kanwa village is now deserted. The bandits divided themselves into two groups and attacked the community. They kidnapped children aged between 14 and 16 years and women,” the resident said.
In separate attacks on Yankaba and Gidan Goga communities in Maradun Local Government Area, residents said at least 38 people were abducted while working on their farms.
Mr Dosara accused the armed groups of using kidnapped civilians as human shields to deter military air strikes targeting their hideouts.
Kidnapping for ransom has become increasingly widespread in northwestern Nigeria, where heavily armed criminal gangs frequently raid villages, highways and farms, abducting residents and demanding payments from their families in exchange for their release.
The latest attacks underscore the persistent security challenges facing the region despite ongoing military operations against armed groups.
