Gunmen abduct more than 100 in Nigeria’s Zamfara state; German priest kidnapped in Mali
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters More than 100 people, including women and children were abducted when gunmen raided four villages in Nigeria’s north-eastern Zamfara state on Sunday, the information commissioner and residents said on Monday. Kidnapping has become endemic in north-west Nigeria as roving gangs of armed men abduct people from villages, highways and farms and demand […]
About 200 dead in attacks in north-west Nigeria, residents say
Maiduguri, NigeriaReuters An estimated 200 people or more have been killed in villages in Nigeria’s Zamfara state during deadly reprisal attacks by armed bandits following military air strikes on their hideouts this week, residents said on Saturday. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari speaks during the 75th anniversary celebrations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural […]
Armed bandits kill at least 30 in Nigeria’s Zamfara state
Maiduguri, NigeriaReuters Armed bandits have killed at least 30 people in Nigeria’s Zamfara State, raiding several villages in a region that has been in a security crisis for more than two years, residents and security sources said on Friday. There have been a series of attacks in north-west Nigeria, which has seen a sharp rise […]
Medical charity MSF condemns killing of one of its nurses in Nigeria
Maiduguri, NigeriaReuters Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres has condemned the killing by unknown gunmen of a nurse it employed in Zamfara in north-west Nigeria, an area at the epicentre of a surge in violent crime in which thousands have been abducted. MSF said nurse Mohammad Hassan, 37, was killed on 2nd October when armed men […]
Nigeria says 75 abducted children released amid army crackdown
Maiduguri, NigeriaReuters Seventy-five children who were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria’s north-western Zamfara State have been released after their abductors came under pressure from a military crackdown, a state official said on Monday. Gunmen took the students from the village of Kaya on 1st September, the latest in a spate of mass kidnappings from […]
Phone blackout imposed on Nigerian state amid crackdown on kidnappers
Maiduguri, NigeriaReuters Mobile telephone networks were shut down in the north-western Nigerian state of Zamfara, residents said on Monday, after authorities ordered a telecoms blackout to help armed forces tackle armed gangs of kidnappers terrorising the area. Two residents of Zamfara, reached by phone after they travelled to neighbouring Sokoto State, said their mobile networks […]
Five girls rescued after Nigeria’s latest mass kidnapping, police say
Maiduguri, NigeriaReuters Five girls who were among 73 children kidnapped from a school in north-western Nigeria have been rescued, police in Zamfara State said on Thursday, although other sources gave different details in the aftermath of the mass abduction. Wednesday’s attack on a secondary school in the village of Kaya was the latest in a […]
Gunmen kidnap more than 75 people in north-west Nigeria
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters Armed gunmen kidnapped at least 75 people from a village in north-west Nigeria, residents said on Saturday, the latest in a slew of abductions that have plagued the West African country’s west. The spate of kidnappings has thwarted all security forces’ efforts to stem the crimes, often carried out for ransom, and […]
Gunmen kidnap dozens of villagers in north-western Nigeria
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen abducted at least 60 people and killed one person in north-western Nigeria after riding motorbikes into five villages and firing sporadically into the air, a police official and several residents said on Saturday. Nigeria is battling an increase in armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom, mainly in northwestern areas, where thinly […]