Gunmen carried out three separate attacks across Nigeria over the weekend, abducting nearly three dozen people, according to security sources who spoke Monday, as authorities come under renewed scrutiny over rising mass kidnappings.
A security report prepared for the United Nations and seen by AFP stated that armed groups known locally as “bandits” abducted “at least 25 residents” in two coordinated assaults on the villages of Unguwar Tsamiya and Dabawa in Kano State.
Kidnappings remain unusual in the northern commercial hub, making the incidents particularly alarming.
In a separate incident in northeastern Borno State, the centre of a long-running jihadist conflict, nine onion farmers were seized by suspected jihadists, militia commander Tijjani Ahmed said.
Nigeria has struggled with kidnapping-for-ransom operations since the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok by Boko Haram. A recent rise in mass kidnappings — including the abduction of hundreds of schoolchildren — prompted the UN to warn of a “surge in mass abductions”.
At the same time, Nigeria faces sharp criticism from the United States, which has threatened military intervention over what it described as the mass killing of Christians. The Nigerian government and independent analysts reject that characterisation, noting the country’s multiple overlapping conflicts that affect communities across ethnic and religious lines.
A series of attacks in November saw around 400 people abducted, including more than 300 schoolchildren in two incidents, according to an AFP tally. Kidnapping data remains difficult to verify, as many cases go unreported.
However, a recent report by SBM Intelligence found that between July of last year and June 2025, at least 4,722 people were kidnapped in 997 incidents, and at least 762 were killed. During this period, the Lagos-based advisory firm said “Nigeria’s kidnap-for-ransom crisis consolidated into a structured, profit-seeking industry”. The report estimated that kidnappers collected about 2.57 billion naira (roughly $1.66 million) in ransom payments.
Bandit groups, driven largely by financial motives rather than ideology, continue to carry out kidnappings, extortion and looting in regions with limited state presence. Government attempts to negotiate peace deals have produced mixed results, with critics arguing that such agreements often allow armed groups to retain their weapons and use truce zones as staging grounds for further attacks.
President Bola Tinubu said last November that the abduction of schoolgirls in Kebbi State and the killing of soldiers in Borno State left him deeply distressed. He urged communities to support security forces by sharing information that could protect children and save lives. “Those who threaten the safety of our citizens will face the full weight of the Nigerian state,” Tinubu said.
