MAIDUGURI: A gang of gunmen kidnapped more than 50 women and children in a raid on Kakin Dawa village in Nigeria’s northwest Zamfara state, police and residents said.
Kidnapping for ransom by gunmen, known by locals as bandits, is rife in northwest Nigeria due to high levels of poverty, unemployment and the proliferation of illegal firearms.
Zamfara police said the incident took place on Sunday and that additional security forces were being deployed to the area.
Residents said dozens of assailants riding on motorcycles arrived in the village at around 1230 GMT, armed with assault rifles, and went from house to house kidnapping residents.
“Later we found out that they kidnapped more than 50 women, including married women and girls,” said Hassan Ya’u, who escaped the attack but whose younger sister was taken.
“We are appealing to the federal and Zamfara state governments to send more soldiers and security personnel to fight those bandits,” he said.
There is widespread insecurity in northwest Nigeria, while a 15-year extremist insurgency has plagued the northeast of the country and gang and separatist violence affects the southeast.
“We are currently waiting to hear the kidnappers’ demands for the release of the abducted individuals,” said Abdulkadir Sadia, another resident of the village. “The entire community is in distress.”
Gunmen kidnap at least 50 in Nigeria’s Zamfara state, residents and police say
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Gunmen kidnap at least 50 in Nigeria’s Zamfara state, residents and police say
- Kidnapping for ransom by gunmen is rife in northwest Nigeria due to high levels of poverty, unemployment and the proliferation of illegal firearms
US might keep or might sell oil seized near Venezuela, Trump says
- “If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” he said
PALM BEACH, Florida: US President Donald Trump said on Monday it would be smart for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to leave power, and the United States could keep or sell the oil it had seized off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks.
Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels allegedly trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near the South American nation. At least 100 people have been killed in the attacks.
Asked if the goal was to force Maduro from power, Trump told reporters: “Well, I think it probably would... That’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it’d be smart for him to do that. But again, we’re gonna find out.”
“If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” he said.
“He’s no friend to the United States. He’s very bad. Very bad guy. He’s gotta watch his ass because he makes cocaine and they send it into the US“
In addition to the strikes, Trump has previously announced a “blockade” of all oil tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela. The US Coast Guard started pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful.
“Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it,” Trump said when asked what would happen with the seized oil, adding it might also be used to replenish the United States’ strategic reserves.
