Abuja: Over 50 people were abducted by gunmen in a mass kidnapping in northwestern Nigeria, according to a report prepared by a conflict observatory for the United Nations.
Armed bandits stormed the village of Sabon Garin Damri in Zamfara State last Friday, one of the states hardest hit by abductions, AFP said today citing the report.
The incident marks the latest in a series of attacks in the region, whose residents have long suffered at the hands of kidnapping gangs targeting local communities in northwestern Nigeria in exchange for ransom, in addition to looting and extortion.
Nigeria continues to grapple with mounting pressure amid multiple active conflict fronts, with its forces battling Boko Haram militants in the northeast, confronting bandit groups in the northwest, and responding to herder violence in the central region and separatist movements in the southeast.
