Police and a local official claimed on Wednesday that gunmen kidnapped nearly 40 youngsters working on a farm in northwest Nigeria and demanded a payment for their release.Information Guide Nigeria
On Sunday, dozens of gunmen on motorbikes invaded a field near Mairuwa village in Katsina State’s Faskari region and arrested 39 youngsters who were gathering crops for a fee, according to police and an official.
Katsina is one of several states in northwest and central Nigeria that have been terrorised by criminal gangs known locally as bandits, who assault towns, killing and abducting citizens and stealing and destroying homes.
Hostages are normally released once ransom money is paid to the gangs, who are said to be hiding out in the massive Rugu forest, which straddles Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Niger States.
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“Bandits invaded a farm in Mairuwa and took away underaged labourers working on the farm,” said Gambo Isah, Katsina police spokesman.
“Our personnel have mobilised to the area with the mission to rescue the hostages and apprehend the criminals,” Isah said, without providing further details.
“The adult workers who could run much faster managed to escape but 39 children who could not outrun the bandits were caught,” said the official, who asked not to identified for personal safety.
“It is obvious the bandits were angry that work began on the farm without being settled the balance,” the source said.
Thirty-three of the hostages, both boys and girls, were from Mairuwa village, he added, and the remaining six were from adjacent communities.JAMB Result
He claimed that the robbers demanded a ransom via the phone of one of the victims.
The farm manager had already established a deal with the robbers, who requested protection money in exchange for allowing the harvest to proceed and were paid a down payment, according to the official.
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