Kidnappings have become common in parts of northern Nigeria, with armed groups carrying out attacks in villages and along major roads. Nigerian police said Friday that gunmen ambushed vehicles carrying at least 20 Nigerian university students in the country’s north-central region.
The attack took place along Otukpo Road in Benue, a notorious kidnapping hotspot.
The students were travelling south to attend a medical students’ conference when they were ambushed in Benue State on Thursday evening, according to Benue police spokesperson Catherine Anin.
The attacks have forced many people to abandon overland journeys, and most victims are only released after ransoms, sometimes running into the thousands of dollars, are paid.
The students abducted in Benue were from the University of Maiduguri and the University of Jos, both in northern Nigeria. Their student groups condemned the attacks and urged authorities to secure their release.
It was not immediately clear which group carried out the attack or where the captives were taken, while police did not provide any update on rescue efforts.
In a related context, in Mali, which has witnessed bloody attacks since 2012 by various groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS, in addition to self-defense forces, bandits and criminal gangs, at least 15 Malian soldiers were killed on Thursday in an attack attributed to militants belonging to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims in central Mali, according to what Agence France-Presse learned on Friday from military sources and local officials.
An elected official told AFP, requesting anonymity for security reasons, that the Malian soldiers killed were “a gendarme and 14 members of the National Guard,” according to a “provisional” tally. He spoke of “the disappearance of other soldiers and of army equipment taken by the attackers.”
For his part, a Malian military source contacted in Mopti, the capital of the central region, said that “the terrorists lost a greater number of elements.”
A local administration official said, “The incidents took place 5 kilometres from Dialasagou,” adding, “There are more than 10 wounded and more than 15 dead in the ranks of the Malian army.”
The violence spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. All three countries have experienced military coups.
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2024-08-18 20:28:33