At least 87 people, mostly women, were abducted in two separate attacks on rural communities in northern Nigeria over the weekend, highlighting continued insecurity in the country’s farming regions.
In Niger state, armed men on Saturday abducted at least 47 farmers, most of them women, while they were harvesting peanuts in Rimi village in the Mariga area, according to local sources and a security report prepared for humanitarian organizations.
The following day, 40 women were kidnapped from Yargada village in the Gusau area of neighboring Zamfara state, according to a security report prepared for the United Nations and reviewed by AFP.
There was no immediate information on the whereabouts of the victims or the identity of those holding them.
Armed gangs, commonly known as “bandits” in Nigeria, have for years targeted rural communities in the northwest and central parts of the country, carrying out kidnappings for ransom, cattle theft and village raids.
Unlike jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, the bandit gangs are generally driven by financial motives, although security researchers have documented contacts and occasional cooperation between some criminal groups and extremist organizations.
Ransom payments have become a major source of income for criminal groups. Estimates cited by Euronews put payments to armed groups at about 7.8 billion Nigerian naira, or roughly $6 million, between July 2025 and June 2026.
The latest abductions come as pressure mounts on Nigeria’s government over insecurity ahead of the presidential election scheduled for January 2027.
Residents in parts of Niger state also protested last week over the number of people abducted in a separate attack, with local estimates far exceeding the figure given by authorities.
