21 abducted children and youth released in northern Nigeria

A group of 21 minors and young people who had been kidnapped by armed men last Sunday from a farm in northern Nigeria, in the state of Katsina, were released, regional police confirmed.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
06 November 2022 Sunday 05:30
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21 abducted children and youth released in northern Nigeria

A group of 21 minors and young people who had been kidnapped by armed men last Sunday from a farm in northern Nigeria, in the state of Katsina, were released, regional police confirmed.

"I announce the release of the total of 21 kidnapped workers who were kidnapped while working on farmland in the village of Kamfanin Mai Lafiya", in the town of Faskari, he said this Saturday through a statement collected today by local media. body spokesman, Gambo Isah.

"They have been reunited with their families and the investigations continue," added Isah, who did not specify whether a ransom had been paid, although Nigerian media reported that the kidnappers asked for the sum of 30 million naira (more than 68,400 euros).

The victims, aged between 15 and 18 according to a Unicef ​​statement published days after the kidnapping, were kidnapped when a large number of armed individuals stormed the farm where they worked.

Initially, the Police reported that those affected were 39 but later reduced the number to 21.

The central and northwestern states of Nigeria suffer from incessant attacks by "bandits", a term used locally for criminal gangs who commit mass robberies, robberies and kidnappings for lucrative ransoms.

The violence continues despite repeated promises by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to end the problem and the deployment of additional security forces to the area.

Added to this insecurity in northwestern Nigeria is that registered since 2009 in the northeast by the jihadist group Boko Haram and, since 2016, due to its split, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Both groups have killed more than 35,000 people and caused some 2.7 million internal displacements, mostly in Nigeria, but also in neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Chad and Niger, according to government and UN data.