‘If you started running, they shot you’ – inside Nigeria’s growing kidnapping crisis
Armed gangs known locally as bandits are intensifying attacks and kidnappings in north-western Nigeria, forcing many people from their homes and deepening a humanitarian crisis. Fatima, a displaced resident of Zamfara state, says an attack on her village killed her husband and six of his siblings, illustrating the severe danger facing rural communities.
She says around 70 people, including children, were killed in Bia Buki in June, while the UN estimates that about 800,000 people have been displaced across the region. Fatima now lives with her seven children in an informal camp in Gusau, where food and shelter are inadequate; she also says children sent to collect firewood have been abducted. Authorities use army patrols and government-backed vigilante groups, but attacks and ransom kidnappings continue to spread.
- Bandit attacks are displacing communities across north-western Nigeria.
- A Zamfara villager says her family suffered devastating losses.
- Displaced people face hunger, poor shelter and continued insecurity.
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North-western Nigeria has faced rising violence from armed criminal gangs commonly called bandits. They operate mainly in rural areas, attacking villages, stealing livestock and abducting people for ransom, which is money demanded in return for someone’s release.
Zamfara state is one of the areas most affected. Many families have fled to towns or informal camps after losing homes, relatives and sources of income, while schools, farming and travel have become more difficult and dangerous.
Nigeria’s federal and state authorities have deployed soldiers and supported local vigilante groups to tackle the gangs. However, the large size of the region, limited security in remote communities and the gangs’ ability to move between areas have made the crisis hard to contain.