At least 52 people were kidnapped by armed men in northwest Nigeria

Nairobi.- At least 52 people were kidnapped by armed men in two attacks that occurred within hours of each other in villages in Zamfara state, in northwestern Nigeria, local media reported on Tuesday. The first attack occurred last Sunday night, when 12 residents were captured in the village of Godai, in the Bukkuyum local government area.

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The second occurred this Monday in a mosque in the village of Gidan Turbe, where 43 faithful participating in the dawn prayers were kidnapped. The attackers surrounded the temple and forced those present to come out at gunpoint, then moved them to the forested areas of Gohori, in the local government area of Tsafe. The Zamfara State Police confirmed that they received a distress call from Bukkuyum and assured that they deployed personnel to respond to the attack, although they are still tracking down those responsible to rescue the victims. The events occur amidst attempts to reach a “peace agreement” between local leaders and armed groups; however, while negotiations advance in some areas, attacks continue in others. Some states in Nigeria, especially in the center and northwest of the country, suffer incessant attacks by “bandits”, a term used in the country to name the criminal gangs that commit assaults and mass kidnappings for ransom, which the authorities sometimes call “terrorists”. Attacks continue despite repeated promises to end the violence by the Nigerian government. This insecurity is compounded by that caused since 2009 by the activity of the jihadist group Boko Haram in the northeast of the country and, from 2016, also by its splinter group, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).