GUSAU, Nigeria: Gunmen killed seven people and kidnapped dozens more in raids on six remote villages in northern Nigeria, residents told AFP, as police reported 11 killed in communal clashes in the centre of the country.
Killings and kidnappings have become almost daily occurrences in Africa’s most populous country.
Police in central Nasarawa state said Saturday that 11 people had been killed and more than 50 houses burnt “after hoodlums suspected to have carried out a reprisal attack over the alleged killing of two of their kinsmen”.
In northwestern Zamfara state police confirmed a “mass” abduction in raids that occurred on Thursday, without giving any figures.
Large numbers of heavily armed men suspected to be bandits invaded Bukkuyum local government area, police said in a statement Saturday.
Zamfara is one of several states in northwest and central Nigeria plagued by criminal gangs, locally called bandits. They carry out deadly raids on communities, kidnap residents for ransom and burn homes after looting them.
Residents told AFP that dozens of motorcycle-riding bandits had raided the neighbouring villages late Thursday through Friday, shooting and abducting residents. Three different locals told AFP that around 150 had been kidnapped.
