BANDITS have abducted at least 20 persons, mostly young girls and women in Moriki town, Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
A resident of Moriki, Sufyanu Moriki, told Channels Television that the victims were abducted on Saturday while fetching firewood on the outskirts of the town.
“The abduction actually happened on Saturday, they went out to fetch firewood at the outskirts of the town when they were kidnapped by the armed group.”
“They are yet to contact anyone to demand ransom.”
Police authorities in the state are yet to confirm the incident.
The Zamfara Police Command’s spokesperson, Yazid Abubakar, said he was yet to be informed about the incident and promised to revert when he gets the information.
“Banditry” crisis originated in conflict over land and water rights between herders and farmers but has morphed into organised crime, with gangs preying on rural communities that have long had little or no government presence.
The conflict is worsening a malnutrition crisis in the northwest as attacks drive people away from their farms, in a situation that has been complicated by climate change and western aid cuts.
Last month, bandits in Zamfara killed 33 people they had kidnapped in February despite receiving a $33,700 ransom, while three babies died in captivity, officials and residents told AFP.
Since 2011, as arms trafficking increased and the wider Sahel fell into turmoil, organised armed gangs formed in northwest Nigeria, with cattle rustling and kidnapping becoming huge moneymakers in the largely impoverished countryside.
Groups also levy taxes on farmers and artisanal miners.
Violence has spread in recent years from the northwest into north-central Nigeria.
Two weeks ago, Nigerian troops killed at least 95 members of an armed gang in a shootout and airstrikes in the northwest state of Niger.
But the military is overstretched. While improved cooperation between the army and air force has aided the fight, analysts say, airstrikes have also killed hundreds of civilians over the years.
Bandits, who are primarily motivated by money, have also increased their cooperation with Nigeria’s jihadist groups, who are waging a separate, 16-year-old armed insurrection in the northeast.
The recent emergence of the Lakurawa jihadist group in the northwest has worsened violence in the region.
Governments of affected states have been forced to recruit anti-jihadist militias fighting the militants in the northeast to assist in countering the bandits.