Forty-eight children, aged 7 to 12, who had been abducted three weeks ago in central-western Nigeria, were released after a ransom was paid, according to a local official and a United Nations source.
The minors’ ordeal began on August 5, when armed criminals abducted 54 children who were working harvesting peanuts near the village of Shabon Rijiya, in Niger State. After being held for three days at a camp in Kaidji National Park and temporarily released, they were kidnapped again on their way back by a different gang, which is reportedly linked to the jihadist group Ansaru.
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According to traditional local leader Abdullahi Shahonrami, forty children were released on the night of Tuesday into Wednesday, and the remaining eight on Wednesday, following the payment of a ransom. A UN source confirmed the outcome, clarifying that during the hostage situation, one girl lost her life at the hands of the first group of kidnappers, while five other children managed to escape during the second attack.
The incident highlights once again the activities of criminal gangs in northwestern and central Nigeria, which routinely engage in mass abductions, robberies, and extortion for financial gain, sometimes collaborating with or clashing against jihadist organizations in remote rural areas where the state’s presence remains extremely limited.
SOURCE: KYPE
