Gunmen abducted at least 45
women and children in an overnight raid on five villages in
northwest Nigeria, witnesses said, in the second mass kidnapping
in the area within days.
The attackers returned to Sabongarin Damri on Monday and
raided nearby villages including Sade, Tungar Tsalle, Tungar
Sodangi and Tungar Musa Dogo, in an assault that lasted until
dawn, Shehu Musa, the traditional head of Damri, told Reuters by
phone late on Tuesday.
The incident followed a separate mass abduction in
Sabongarin Damri, in Zamfara state, on Saturday in which 70
people were taken.
“The attackers invaded the communities and kidnapped no
fewer than 45 people from the five neighbouring villages, which
are less than half a kilometre apart,” Musa said.
Armed groups, often referred to locally as “bandits”, have
killed hundreds and abducted thousands across Nigeria’s
northwest in recent years. They typically hold captives for
extended periods, demanding ransoms for their release.
Security forces engaged the assailants during Monday’s
attack, killing three, but were unable to stop the bandits from
fleeing with hostages and rustling cattle. Civilian casualties
were reported, though the number of fatalities was unconfirmed.
“They mostly kidnapped women and children after killing some
of our people,” said Hassan Dauda, a resident of Tungar Tsalle.
“As I’m speaking to you now, some residents have started fleeing
their community due to fear.”
Separately, Boko Haram militias attacked the remote Kennari
village, in the Damasak area of the northeastern Borno state, on
Monday, abducting at least 15 people and killing one person,
according to a security report seen by Reuters.
Modu Bukar, a resident, said the assailants killed the
village head and demanded a 30 million naira ($19,650) ransom<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gunmen abducted at least 45women and children in an overnight raid on five villages innorthwest Nigeria, witnesses said, in the second mass kidnappingin the area within days.The attackers returned to Sabongarin Damri on Monday andraided nearby villages including Sade, Tungar Tsalle, TungarSodangi and Tungar Musa Dogo, in an assault that lasted untildawn, Shehu Musa, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n