One Month After, 30 Locals Kidnapped from Niger District Still in Captivity

About 30 kidnapped persons abducted by gun-wielding terrorists in Yakila district of Rafi-Kagara local council, Niger State, are still being held in captivity 30 days after they were kidnapped.

On March 7, 2023, the terrorists locally known as bandits wreaked havoc on the community, unchallenged, kidnapping the victims including a nursing mother and pregnant woman.

A source in the district who spoke with WikkiTimes on Friday said the victims were abducted earlier in March.

“Some people were kidnapped in Yakila village and neighboring villages within the district,” he told WikkiTimes. “And some passengers on the highway were also abducted.”

According to him, most of the victims are women and no one knows how they are fearing since their abduction.

Spokesman for Niger Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun was not available for comment. His number was not reachable and a text sent to him had not been responded to.

Yakila District is one of the soft targets for terrorists infiltrating Niger through a porous border in Kaduna State. In 2020, Abdulhameed Ibrahim, the district head of Yakila was kidnapped by a bandit group led by one notorious Dan-Makaranta who wreaks havoc in villages between Kaduna and Niger states.

A report by FIJ detailed how the bandit group reigned terror in Niger. A family source told the medium that the district head had alerted his subjects upon hearing that the terrorists were wreaking havoc in Garin Gabas, a neighbouring village. Unfortunately, he became a victim.

He was kidnapped alongside a health worker identified as Halima, her child, as well as Ilyasu Mukhtar, an All Progressives Congress (APC) youth leader in Garin Gabas.

“Seven million naira was negotiated as the ransom for him and other kidnapped victims from Garin Gabas,” the source said. “Three million naira for the district head, N3 million for the health worker and her child, and N1 million for the youth leader.”

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While others regained freedom, the district could not even after the ransom was paid. Three years after, Salatul Janaza (Islamic prayer for a deceased person) was observed for him and a new district head was installed.

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