Gunmen kidnap at least 52 people in Nigeria
A military base on the outskirts of the community was first attacked.
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A military base on the outskirts of the community was first attacked.
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JOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Gunmen kidnapped at least 52 people, including children, in a weekend attack on a village and military base in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, local sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Monday.
Kidnappings have become a major source of income for armed groups in Nigeria, including jihadists in the northeast and criminal gangs known locally as “bandits,” who dominate much of the northwest.
Zamfara is one of the hardest hit states in the northwest.
The gunmen on motorcycles swept into Kasuwar Daji village in the Kaura Namoda local government area around midnight Saturday into Sunday, first attacking a military base on the outskirts of the community, residents told AFP.
The attackers seized rifles from the base and set a military patrol vehicle ablaze before raiding the village, where they abducted dozens of people, residents said.
“Initially, they abducted more than 100 people,” before letting some go, ultimately retaining 52, said Shehu Abdullahi, a resident of Kasuwar Daji whose 12-year-old daughter was among those kidnapped.
“The gunmen went from house to house, abducting many people,” another resident, Ahmad Usman, told AFP, giving the same toll.
“They abducted two of my sons’ wives, and they also took away two teenage girls from my family.”
No soldiers were suspected to have been kidnapped.
Alhaji Ibrahim Musa told AFP the attackers “overpowered (a) military base stationed here in our community.”
