A criminal group has kidnapped 39 children working on a farm in northwestern Nigeria for ransom, police and a local official said on Wednesday (November 2).
On Sunday October 30, 2022, dozens of armed men on motorbikes invaded a farm outside the village of Mairuwa, in Katsina State, abducting the 39 children, according to these sources. Armed gangs, known locally as “bandits”, terrorize the northwestern and central states of Africa’s most populous country, looting, kidnapping and killing villagers.
The hostages are usually released after paying ransom to the gangs who find refuge in the vast Rugu forest, which straddles the states of Zamfara, Niger, Katsina and Kaduna.
Agreement with bandits
“The bandits invaded the farm in Mairuwa and took the underage workerssaid Katsina police spokesman Gambo Isah. “Our agents have been mobilized in the area with the mission of rescuing the hostages and apprehending the criminalsadded Gambo Isah, without giving further details.
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A local official in Faskari district, in which the village of Mairuwa is located, said there were dozens of workers altogether. “The adult workers, who could run much faster, managed to escape but the 39 children, who couldn’t outrun the bandits, were capturedsaid this source on condition of anonymity.
In the past, the manager of the farm had made a deal with the bandits: money against the promise that the harvest could take place. But the gunmen only received a down payment, the Faskari official said. “It is obvious that the bandits were furious that activity had resumed on the farm without the full sum having been paid.“, he continued.
Rise of insecurity
The district of Faskari, located on the border with the state of Zamfara, lives under the recurring threats of kidnappings by the bandits, according to this source. President Muhammadu Buhari is under fire from critics after two terms marked in particular by the rise in insecurity, four months before the presidential election in which he will not stand again, in accordance with the Constitution.
Besides bandits, Nigeria, which has a population of nearly 215 million, is also plagued by jihadist groups in the northeast and separatist unrest in the southeast.
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