Local sources report more than 40 people abducted in northwestern Nigeria

A survivor and a local government chairman said an armed bandit gang kidnapped more than 40 people in northwestern Nigeria over the weekend.

Alhaji Lauwali Abdullahi, a resident of Mayanchi district in Zamfara state's Maru local government area, said a gang attacked 11 villages in a series of raids between Friday and Sunday. He blamed the attacks on a bandit leader known as Kachalla Sa'idu and said more than 40 people were being held. He cited raids in Tashar Mayanchi, Gwargawo, Jidda and Garagi.

Bello Jabaka, chairman of the Maru local government area, confirmed the abductions and said he was working to lodge a complaint to seek additional security forces in the area. A police spokesman in Zamfara did not respond to a request for comment.

Kidnapping has become a source of money for armed groups in Nigeria, including jihadists in the northeast and non-ideological gangs known locally as bandits in the northwest. The gangs operate across rural parts of northwestern and central Nigeria where state presence is weak. They levy taxes on farmers, rustle livestock, raid villages and have been linked to illegal mining operations.

A state official said earlier this month that Nigerian troops killed more than 300 bandits in Zamfara state over two days of operations in July. SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, estimated that kidnappings raised about $1.66 million in ransom payments between July 2024 and June 2025.

The report also cited a mass kidnapping of schoolchildren in Oyo state in May. More than 40 students and teachers, allegedly abducted by jihadists, were rescued earlier this month.