Gunmen kidnap 12 in Nigeria’s northern Zamfara and Borno states

At least 12 people have been kidnapped in two separate incidents in northern Nigeria, officials and witnesses said on Saturday.
In the first incident, unidentified assailants kidnapped four people late on Friday. Those taken included the village head of Nasarawa-Burkullu community in Nigeria’s northwestern Zamfara state, local official Muhammad Bukuyum said on Saturday.
Bukuyum said the other victims were three local farmers, and that the assailants had demanded a ransom, without giving further details.
In a separate incident, Boko Haram militants abducted eight farmers on Saturday in Maiwa village, about three kilometres from Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state.