Thirty people returning from a wedding were abducted on Saturday June 11 by armed men belonging to a criminal gang in northwestern Nigeria, relatives of the victims told AFP.
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The kidnapped people - all mobile phone traders - were returning to Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state, after attending a colleague's wedding in neighboring Sokoto state when they were abducted after a power failure. one of the vehicles carrying them, said a union leader and a security source.
"
Thirty of our members were abducted... on their way back from our colleague's wedding in Sokoto
," said Kabiru Garba Mukhtar, head of the mobile phone traders' union in Zamfara.
“
The kidnappers called me on the phone of one of the victims, confirming that they were holding 30 of our colleagues
,” he added.
The convoy carrying 50 wedding guests stopped at Lambar Bakura village after one of their buses broke down when kidnappers attacked them, an area security officer said.
"
Twenty people managed to escape while 30 were abducted
," he said on condition of anonymity.
Mass kidnappings
Heavily armed criminal gangs, locally known as “
bandits
”, operate in areas of northwestern and central Nigeria, where they attack villages and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom despite military operations intended to destroy them. combat.
Last week, 58 residents were abducted by armed men who invaded the village of Kwari in Katsina state, according to local officials.
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In a spectacular attack last March, gunmen blew up a railway track linking the capital Abuja to the northwestern town of Kaduna before abducting dozens of passengers from the stationary train .
The gangs act for financial reasons, without a priori ideological claim, but possible alliances between bandits and jihadists raise many concerns.