Suspected bandits have abducted scores of farmers in separate incidents in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger State, with the chairman of the local government putting the number of victims at 47 and saying the abductors are demanding ₦2 million for each victim.
The victims were reportedly abducted while harvesting groundnuts at Tungan Rimi in Ma’undu-Beri Ward of Mariga Local Government Area.
The incident reportedly occurred on Saturday afternoon, with the attackers also taking some men working on nearby farms.
The Chairman of Mariga Local Government Area, Alhaji Aliyu Bagga Muhamadu, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview, saying reports reaching him indicated that one of the abducted women had given birth while in captivity.
According to him, the abductors have contacted some relatives and are demanding a ransom of ₦2 million for each of the victims before their release.
The council chairman added that security personnel, alongside local vigilantes, had been mobilised to rescue the victims.
He said the joint security team had engaged the suspected bandits around Alibani village after passing through Kasuwan Garba and Biri, during which a vigilante sustained injuries.
Sources further said the armed men were sighted moving through areas between Mangoro and Wamba after allegedly emerging from the Dogon Dawa axis.
The attackers were also said to have moved into the Bariki Forest, also known as Ma’undu, where the abducted persons are suspected to be held.
Some relatives of the victims said they had yet to establish direct contact with their loved ones or receive definite information about their whereabouts, although available reports suggest they may be in the Ma’undu Forest.
However, the Niger State Police Command gave a different figure, confirming the abduction of more than 20 persons at Mukura village in the Kasuwan-Garba District of Mariga Local Government Area.
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said in a statement that the incident was reported on September 28, adding that the victims were abducted at about 3 p.m. on September 27.
He said, “Joint security rescue efforts are ongoing.”
While the Mariga council chairman said 47 people were abducted in the groundnut-farm incident, the police statement put the number at more than 20 persons.
The discrepancy in the figures could not immediately be reconciled, while security agencies continue efforts to rescue the victims.
