More than 100 people were kidnapped during attacks by gunmen on several villages in the central Nigerian state of Niger, while more than 40 people were killed in the attacks, according to police and local residents.
According to police, the attackers dressed in military-style uniforms targeted the villages of Dikara, Gidan Zana, Sabon Gida and Masaka in Borgo Local Government Area after Friday prayers.
Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said that authorities suspect that the attackers were armed criminal gangs, or ‘bandits’, who are involved in kidnapping for ransom and looting in various parts of Nigeria.
According to local residents, the gunmen entered Dikara after prayers, gathered people in one place and took them to nearby forests, after which they left for other nearby villages.
Local assemblyman Jafar Mohammed Shettimaan Borgo also confirmed the attacks.
The attacks come at a time when armed groups have been active in the remote Borgo region, which borders the Nigerian states of Kebbi and Kwara as well as neighboring Benin.
Earlier this month, police said 145 people kidnapped from four Borgo villages – Konko So, Kaswan Daji, Tangan Makri and Shefachi – had been rescued.
The men were among 308 hostages rescued in a major security operation, according to authorities, including more than 160 people kidnapped from neighboring Kwara state.
The latest attacks have highlighted the ongoing security crisis in Niger state and north-central Nigeria, where armed groups exploit remote forests and weak security systems to carry out attacks and kidnappings for ransom.
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