Despite efforts by community leaders to broker peace agreements with known bandit leaders in vulnerable areas, a group of armed men attacked a farmland in Bungudu Local Government Area of Zamfara State, abducting 11 siblings.
The abduction occurred just two days after 36 villagers kidnapped by bandits terrorising communities in Shinkafi Local Government Area regained their freedom following a peace deal brokered between a notorious bandit leader, Bello Turji, and local representatives.
The kidnapped siblings, said to be the children of a farmer, Nasiru Oli, were working on the farmland in Ruwan Kaiwa village, under the Kekun Waje district, when the attackers stormed the area and whisked them away to an unknown destination.
According to community members, the victims were tending to crops when the armed men struck.
A security analyst, Makama, who confirmed the incident in a post on Friday, said the abduction took place around 11 a.m. on Thursday.
“The abductors stormed the farmland and took all 11 children belonging to one man. Security operatives have begun search operations to rescue them,” he said.
He added that a combined team of security personnel and local vigilantes had launched a manhunt for the kidnappers, who are believed to have fled into the surrounding forest.
Meanwhile, residents have expressed deep frustration over what they describe as a worsening security situation in rural Zamfara, where armed groups continue to target farmers and villagers with little resistance.
“We can’t farm in peace anymore. Every new season comes with fear,” a local elder lamented.
Zamfara, long plagued by bandit attacks and mass abductions, remains one of the epicentres of Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis.
Efforts are ongoing to secure the release of the abducted children, but families in the area say they are living in constant fear, unsure of who the next victims might be.
