Gunmen kidnapped more than 50 people in northwest Nigeria in a mass abduction, according to a private conflict monitoring report created for the United Nations and seen by AFP on Sunday (August 3, 2025).
“Armed bandits” targeted the village of Sabon Garin Damri in Zamfara state Friday, the report said, the latest attack in a region where residents in rural hinterlands have long suffered from gangs who kidnap for ransom, loot villages and demand taxes.
The report said this was the first “mass capture” incident in the Bakura local government area this year, “the recent trend of mass captures in Zamfara has been concerning”, noting “a shift in bandit strategy towards more large-scale attacks in northern Zamfara”.
A Zamfara police spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
