MAIDUGURI (Nigeria), Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 13 onion farmers have been kidnapped in the restive northeastern Nigeria, the latest bout of abductions rocking the country, a local government official said.
Nigeria has been wracked by a wave of kidnappings in recent weeks, including the capture of over 300 school children two weeks ago that shook Africa’s violence-weary most populous country.
The spike in abductions saw President Bola Tinubu declare a security emergency – allowing for the recruitment of tens of thousands more police and military personnel.
Around midnight Saturday “unknown gunmen stormed Malari village … and abducted fourteen onion farmers”, Konduga local government chairman, Abba Abbari said, adding one of the victims later escaped.
The farmers had stayed overnight in the fields to water crops and watch over cattle when they were seized.
Konduga local government area is located just some 35 kilometres from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.
Borno has been the epicentre of a long-running jihadist violence in Nigeria since Boko Haram’s uprising began in 2009.
While kidnappings for ransom by armed “bandit” gangs have been more concentrated in the northwest and central parts of Nigeria in recent years, a few cases have been reported lately in the northeast.
Head of the anti-jihadists militia group Civilian Joint Task Force in Konduga, Tijjani Ahmed, said the kidnappers had called demanding ransom. — NNN-AGENCIES