Gunmen kidnap High Court judge from his home in northwest Nigeria

Gunmen kidnapped High Court judge Faruku Hassan Bunza from his home in Bunza town in northwestern Nigeria’s Kebbi state on Sunday morning, police said.

Kebbi police spokesman Bashir Usman told AFP that the judge was abducted shortly after returning to Bunza. Police said an operation was under way to rescue him.

The Africa Judges & Jurists Forum, a continental network of judges, condemned the kidnapping and said the abduction of a judge threatened values central to constitutional democracy.

The case follows several other high-profile kidnappings in northwest Nigeria.

Gunmen recently abducted Nura Umar Bungudu, chairman of the Bungudu local government area in neighbouring Zamfara state, AFP reported.

In May, armed men kidnapped retired army Major-General Rabe Abubakar and his wife in nearby Katsina state. Abubakar later died in captivity, according to the Katsina state government.

Kidnapping has become a major source of income for armed groups in Nigeria, including jihadists in the northeast and bandit gangs operating across parts of the northwest.