At least 20 young mothers abducted in northeast Nigeria — Sources
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria: Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped at least 20 young mothers near a town in northeast Nigeria where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted nearly two months ago, sources told AFP yesterday.
There were conflicting reports of how many women were abducted from the nomadic settlement near Chibok in Borno state, with one local leader putting the number as high as 40.
But the latest kidnappings, which happened on Saturday in and around the village of Garkin Fulani, eight kilometres (five miles) from Chibok, were the latest in a spate in the area.
“Available information revealed that the gunmen came around noon (1100 GMT) and abducted 20 women and three young men left to keep watch on the village,” said Alhaji Tar, of a local vigilante group.
“All the males in the settlement were away in the bush with their herd (of cattle) for grazing when the abductors came to the village.”
There was no immediate indication of where the women were taken and there had been no contact from the kidnappers.
A local official of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria ( MACBAN) said 40 young mothers were singled out and put into vehicles before being driven to an unknown location.
MACBAN is the umbrella organisation of the nomadic Fulani cattle herders in Nigeria.
Similar kidnappings for ransom have been going on in the area for some time but locals were too afraid to speak out in fear of reprisals from the Islamist militants, the official said. — AFP