Kidnapping for ransom has become rife in northwestern
Nigeria in recent years where armed gangs, often referred to
locally as bandits, have targeted villages, schools, and
travellers, demanding millions of naira in ransom and making it unsafe to travel by road or to farm in some areas.
The Zamfara police spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the attack, which took place late on Friday.
Residents told Reuters that gunmen on dozens of motorcycles
stormed the villages of Mutunji, Kwanar-Dutse, Sabon-Garin
Mahuta and Unguwar Kawo in the Maru local government area of the state.
Dankandai Musa, a resident of one of the villages, told
Reuters he managed to slip away unnoticed during the chaos. But 20 members of his household were taken.
"I managed to escape after they were regrouping us and the
people from the three other villages that were attacked," he
said. "I fled while they were dragging us to the bush."
A local village head said Lawali Damana, leader of the
gunmen, had demanded 100 million naira ($119,000) from the
villages as retribution after Nigerian troops killed four of his
men earlier.
"So yesterday, he came in the company of his boys and took
away over a hundred people with him and we haven't heard
anything from him since. One person was shot dead in the process of taking the hostages," said the village head, who didn't want to be named for fear of being targeted.
Nigeria faces numerous security challenges, including a
14-year Islamist insurgency in its northeast, separatist
violence in the southeast, and frequent deadly clashes between
farmers and herders in the central region.
President Bola Tinubu has yet to detail how he will tackle
the insecurity. His economic reforms, including the removal of a costly petrol subsidy and freeing the naira currency, have led
to a sharp increase in the cost of living, angering citizens.