Armed bandits in north-west Nigeria abducted 39 villagers on Sunday after inviting them to a meeting about potential peace negotiations, authorities and residents said, highlighting the region’s worsening security. The abduction occurred in the forest near Magamin Diddi village in the Maradun municipality of Zamfara state.
According to a police spokesperson, Yazid Abubakar, the victims were meeting relatives of a bandit leader in the hope of bringing peace and easing restrictions imposed on the community. “While the meeting was ongoing, the bandit kingpin allegedly arrived at the location with members of his gang and forcefully abducted 39 members of the group to an unknown destination,” he said in a statement on Monday.
Some residents and officials believe the number of those abducted could be as high as 50. The chair of the Maradun local government told a local newspaper that authorities in the state were not in support of reconciliation with bandits. He questioned why the community chose to meet the aggrieved bandits, who were seeking an opportunity to retaliate after the persistent killing of their members by security operatives.
Zamfara is at the centre of a long-running security crisis in which armed groups carry out mass kidnappings, killings and village raids, disrupting farming and displacing thousands. Individual negotiations with kidnappers have occurred despite official warnings. Security forces have deployed personnel and intelligence assets to locate the victims, the police statement said.
Bashar Aliyu, a resident of Magamin Diddi, said the armed group was demanding 125m naira (£69,000) for the release of those abducted. Several individuals were reported by local people to have been released to convey the kidnappers’ ransom demands. Abubakar said security operatives were working to rescue the captives and bring the perpetrators to justice.
