18 Mar 2024 | 01:40 PM UTC
Nigeria: Suspected bandits kidnap about 87 residents in Kajuru LGA, Kaduna State, March 17-18
Suspected bandits kidnap about 87 residents in Kajuru LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria, March 17-18. Further incidents likely.
Suspected bandits kidnaped about 87 residents in the Kajuru Local Government Area (LGA), Kaduna State, overnight March 17-18. The exact location of the incident remains unclear. Among the abductees are mostly children. There have been no reported casualties.
The incident follows an upsurge in kidnappings in the region, including the abduction of about 60 people in the same LGA overnight on March 11-12 and 300 people, mostly children, in Kaduna's Chikun LGA on March 7. Further similar incidents are likely in the near term.
Likely search operations to apprehend the kidnappers and rescue the victims may cause localized disruptions due to possible roadblocks, checkpoints, and search vehicles. Residents may assemble to protest insecurity. Armed clashes involving assailants and security forces cannot be ruled.
Exercise a high degree of caution if operating in Kaduna State, and particularly near the incident site, as authorities respond to the kidnapping. Heed the instructions of local security personnel; remain courteous and cooperative if stopped and questioned by law enforcement officers. Travel only in convoys during daylight hours. Maintain regular contact with your home country's diplomatic mission.
The kidnapping threat is particularly acute in the northwest, where officials have failed to curtail criminal activities despite various security measures implemented in recent years in Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, and Zamfara states, such as movement and business restrictions. Most kidnappings in Nigeria are financially motivated and conducted by criminal groups of varying levels of sophistication. Militant and/or extremist groups also conduct kidnappings that may be ideologically or financially motivated. Reports may attribute attacks and kidnappings to militant groups such as Boko Haram or those affiliated with the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda, historically based in the northeast.
