Sub-Saharan Africa
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Nigerian Gunmen Reportedly Kidnap at Least 61 People in North of the Country

© AP Photo / AP VideoNigerian Army vehicles are parked at the village were children were kidnapped in Kuriga, Kaduna State
Nigerian Army vehicles are parked at the village were children were kidnapped in Kuriga, Kaduna State - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 13.03.2024
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The West African country has been grappling with serious security challenges for more than a decade, including thuggery, oil theft, kidnapping, and terrorism, which remains the most difficult to combat.
At least 61 people were kidnapped in an attack by gunmen on Buda, a community in the northern Nigerian State of Kaduna , the local media said, citing local residents.
A resident told the media that the kidnappers stormed the community en masse and fired indiscriminately as they abducted locals.
The abductees included women, children and a nursing mother, another resident added.
"We have been experiencing these attacks for a long time. The situation has become worse, forcing many residents and farmers from villages to flee to less dangerous places," a local said.
A day earlier, media reported that militants from Nigeria's Boko Haram* terrorist group had kidnapped more than a hundred women in the northeastern state of Borno.
The attack on Buda comes almost a week after more than 100 schoolchildren were kidnapped in the town of Kuriga, 160 kilometers away.
Eyewitnesses described how dozens of militants on motorcycles stormed the school grounds and seized the students, who ranged in age from eight to 15, as well as a teacher.
The Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani said in a statement that he had received a firm assurance from President Bola Tinubu that all measures would be taken to bring back the school children, and announced plans to set up a security committee and a military base in the state to beef up security.
School desk with copybooks in modern classroom
 - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 07.03.2024
Sub-Saharan Africa
Over 100 Schoolkids Reportedly Kidnapped in Northwestern Nigeria
Armed attacks also occurred in Nigeria a month earlier. In early February, four policemen were killed in an attack by unknown assailants on a police station in northeastern Nigeria.
The day before, assailants entered the palace of the traditional ruler, Oba Aremu Olusegun Cole, where they killed him and abducted his wife and another person.
Boko Haram* is active in Nigeria and has been known to kidnap and kill people since 2002. In March 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the terrorist group Daesh* and changed its name to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). In 2016, however, Boko Haram redefined itself as a separate group.
* Terrorist organizations banned in Russia and many other states.
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