(Kano) Thirty herders were abducted on Friday by Boko Haram jihadists in northeast Nigeria, demanding ransom for their release, fishermen and the leader of a Boko Haram-backed militia said on Tuesday. the government.
“The Boko Haram insurgents selected herders from the villages and abducted 30 men and women,” Labo Sani, a fisherman living near the three attacked villages on the shores of Lake Chad, told AFP.
“They left a message asking the families of the hostages to pay 20 million naira (about C$57,000),” he added.
Another fisherman in the area, Sallau Arzika, confirmed to AFP their kidnapping, as well as the number of hostages.
Just like the head of a militia fighting jihadists in the region and supported by the government, who wished to remain anonymous.
Since Iswap, the West African branch of the Islamic State group, split with Boko Haram in 2016, it has taken the reins in most of the territories under the control of Boko Haram, notably in the Lake Chad region where it established a strong presence.
The group allowed fishermen and herders to fish and graze livestock on its territory after paying taxes, which provided it with a substantial source of income.
But Boko Haram, which does not have such resources, is looking for cash and has decided to kidnap the herders to extort them, according to the head of the anti-jihadist militia.
According to him, herders in the Doron Bagan region, where the villages were attacked, “have started to leave for fear of further kidnappings”.
Since the jihadist insurgency in 2009, the conflict has left more than 40,000 dead and two million displaced in Nigeria, and triggered a serious humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
Nigeria’s new president, Bola Tinubu, sworn in at the end of May as head of Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s largest economy, faces multiple security challenges.
He promised to make the fight against insecurity “his absolute priority”, just like his predecessors.