Dozens kidnapped

MINNA, Nigeria (AFP) — More than 80 people were abducted by armed gangs in two separate attacks on Saturday and Sunday in northern Nigeria, the latest mass kidnappings for ransom to rock the country.

On Saturday, at least 47 farmers were abducted by armed gangs while harvesting peanuts in Niger state, and on Sunday, 40 women were kidnapped in the neighboring state of Zamfara, according to two security reports seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP) and a local source.

Gunmen on motorcycles — members of gangs specializing in ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling, locally known as “bandits” — have for years terrorized rural communities in northwestern and central Nigeria.

These groups regularly carry out bloody raids on villages, killing residents and torching homes after looting them.

A local source said the 47 farmers, most of them women, were taken from their farms in Rimi, an agricultural community in the Mariga area of Niger state.

The women kidnapped on Sunday were taken from Yargada, in the Gusau area of Zamfara, according to a security report prepared for the United Nations and seen by AFP.