Gunmen kidnap 150 people in central Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria: Gunmen attacked a remote village in central Nigeria, killing eight people and kidnapped about 150 more in the country´s latest mass abduction, officials told AFP on Monday.

Large-scale kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria´s northwest and central states, where heavily armed gangs known locally as bandits often target remote villages. Attackers on motorbikes stormed Kuchi village in Niger state on Friday night, where they killed eight people and “abducted about 150 villagers,” local government chairman Aminu Najume said.

“They came on around 100 motorcycles each carrying three men,” he said. “No help came throughout the three hours they took operating in the village.” A UN source gave the same figure for the number kidnapped, while Nigerian state rescue agency SEMA said more than 100 were abducted.