More than 80 people, mostly women, are missing after being abducted by armed gangs in two separate attacks in northern Nigeria over the weekend. On Saturday, at least 47 farmers were kidnapped while harvesting peanuts in Niger State. The following day, 40 women were abducted in neighboring Zamfara state, according to security reports seen by AFP. Armed gangs, locally known as "bandits," have terrorised rural communities in northern and central Nigeria for years, carrying out kidnappings for ransom, as well as engaging in cattle theft and deadly raids. Kidnapping remains a major security challenge in Nigeria: according to SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based research and consulting firm, armed groups collected nearly $6 million in ransom payments between July 2025 and June 2026 - more than triple the amount recorded in the previous year.
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