Bandits in north-west Nigeria abduct villagers they invited to discuss peace talks

TL;DR

• 1

  A peace meeting turned into a kidnapping — Armed bandits in Zamfara state abducted 39 villagers on Sunday in a forest near Magamin Diddi, Maradun municipality, after inviting them to discuss possible peace negotiations, though some residents and officials say as many as 50 were taken.

• 2

  Police say the alleged bandit leader showed up mid-meeting and seized the group — Police spokesperson Yazid Abubakar said the victims were meeting relatives of a bandit kingpin when he arrived with gang members and forcibly took 39 people to an unknown destination.

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  Local authorities opposed negotiating with the bandits — The chair of Maradun local government said Zamfara authorities did not support reconciliation, noting the bandits had recently blocked roads to the community market after security forces kept killing their members.

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  The abduction shows how entrenched Zamfara’s bandit crisis has become — In north-west Nigeria, armed groups known locally as bandits have carried out mass kidnappings, killings, and village raids, disrupting farming, displacing thousands, and pushing some communities into ad hoc negotiations just to access farmland or free abductees.

• 5

  A ransom demand was quickly reported — Bashar Aliyu, a resident of Magamin Diddi, said the kidnappers were demanding 125m naira, about £69,000, and local people said some released captives were sent back specifically to relay the demand.