Farmers and girls kidnapped in northern Niger and Zamfara states as police discover human stays, together with 28 skulls, at suspected gang camps.
Printed On 29 Sep 2026
Greater than 80 individuals have been reported lacking in Nigeria after being kidnapped by armed gangs, a media report stated, as authorities introduced the invention of human stays suspected to belong to victims of kidnapping within the southeastern state of Abia.
The AFP information company reported on Monday that at the least 87 individuals, largely girls, had been lacking after two separate weekend assaults.
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Not less than 47 farmers had been kidnapped by armed males whereas harvesting peanuts within the northern Niger State on Saturday, whereas 40 girls had been kidnapped within the neighbouring state of Zamfara on Sunday, the company reported, citing two safety experiences and an area supply.
The kidnappings within the Mariga space of Niger and Yargada in Zamfara are the newest assaults by legal gangs who concentrate on ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling. Domestically referred to as “bandits”, they frequently perform bloody raids on villages, killing residents and torching properties after looting them.
Individually, police in Abia introduced in an announcement on Sunday that they discovered 28 human skulls and bones ”suspected to be [of kidnapped] victims”, after raiding camps linked to legal teams within the forests.
In an announcement on X, the police stated suspects on the scene had fled and added that “efforts are intensified to apprehend the fleeing suspects”.
Mass abductions for ransom have develop into frequent in components of northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with armed gangs often holding abductees till they’re paid giant sums of cash.
In August, gunmen kidnapped as many as 600 worshippers throughout Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village within the north-central Niger State.
Based on analysis from SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, armed teams raised some 7.8 billion naira (practically $6m) in ransom funds between July 2025 and June 2026, greater than triple the two.6 billion naira paid throughout the identical interval final 12 months.
The most recent wave of kidnappings comes just a few months forward of the January presidential elections, by which safety, together with the rising value of residing, is ready to be a serious challenge.
President Bola Tinubu has confronted rising criticism over lax safety.
Residents of Niger State protested final Monday over the abduction of hundreds of people that, they stated, remained in captivity a month after gunmen attacked a number of communities in one of many nation’s largest mass kidnappings.
