Nigeria : Gunmen Kidnap At Least 50 People

Zamfara State police and residents have reported the kidnapping of more than 50 women and children in a raid on Kakin Dawa village northwest of Zamfara State by gunmen. According to a private conflict monitoring report by the UN and seen by Agence France-Presse on Sunday, the “Armed Bandits” targeted the village, in a latest attack in a region where residents in rural hinterlands have long suffered from gangs that also loot villages and demand taxes. 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. Last month, “Bandits” in Zamfara killed 33 people they had kidnapped in February despite receiving a $33,700 ransom, while three babies died in captivity, local people said.  
Two weeks ago, government soldiers killed at least 95 members of an armed gang in a shootout and airstrikes in the north-west State of Niger.  While improved cooperation between the army and air force has aided the fight, analysts say, airstrikes have also mistakenly killed hundreds of civilians over the years. Bandits, who are primarily motivated by money, have also increased their cooperation with Nigeria’s jihadist groups, who are waging a separate, 16-year armed insurrection in the north-east. Governments of affected States have been forced to recruit anti-jihadist militias fighting the militants in the north-east to assist in countering the bandits. Nigeria’s banditry crisis originated from conflict over land and water rights between herders and farmers but has morphed into organized crime, with gangs preying on rural communiti...