Residents in four villages in Zamfara state were kidnapped by dozens of armed men on motorcycles after they failed to pay a “tax” imposed on them.
“We are trying to collect the money… but suddenly the bandits came in and robbed people.” The BBC heard from a resident from Mutunji village, who said he managed to escape after being abducted by gunmen. He said most of those taken on Friday (Nov 24) were women and children.
Locals told the BBC the gunmen’s leader is named “Damana”. They said Damana controls most of the region in the absence of state security forces and that he had demanded ₦100m ($119,000) from the villages as retribution after Nigerian troops killed four of his men earlier.
Kidnapping for ransom has become rife in northwestern Nigeria. Armed gangs, referred to locally as bandits, target villages, schools, and travellers, demanding millions of naira in ransom and making it unsafe to farm or travel by road in some areas.
In a documentary released last year, #BBCAfricaEye and
tracked down ultra-violent bandit warlords who are raiding villages and abducting schoolchildren across north-western Nigeria
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