Hundreds of people are feared to be seized in Nigeria as the kidnapping epidemic worsens

They were already living under great hardship in camps for displaced people after fleeing their homes in Nigeria’s embattled northeast. Recently, they risked a trip into the countryside to collect firewood — and some officials say about 200 of them were kidnapped.

Just days later, dozens of children – if not more – were abducted on Thursday from a primary school some 500 miles away in central Nigeria.

It was unclear who was responsible and no statements were made by security services. The first incident took place in the region terrorized by Boko Haram, the ruthless Islamist group with a history of mass kidnappings. Residents told local media that bandits carried out the second.

But the two had key elements in common: they involved some of society’s most vulnerable people and showed that Nigeria’s successive governments and armed forces have failed to bring peace and stability to a divided country.

Parts of Nigeria, a West African nation that is the most populous on the continent, are plagued by crime and violence, and the 15-year-old Boko Haram insurgency in the north continues. Boko Haram’s kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from their student houses in the town of Chibok ten years ago led to international outrage, is still an open wound; 98 of the victims are still missing, according to Amnesty International.

More than 3,600 people were kidnapped in Nigeria last year – the highest number in five years, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Projectalthough the actual number is likely much higher as many episodes go unreported.

The details of the two most recent mass kidnappings remain extremely murky.

The first took place in Borno State, which was at the heart of the Boko Haram insurgency. In the northeast, more than two million people have left their homes and livelihoods to take refuge in camps in garrison towns, struggling to eke out a meager existence. The cities are defended by the Nigerian army and surrounded by trenches behind which jihadist groups operate.

According to Mohamed Malick Fall, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, the people kidnapped in Borno – many of them women and children – ventured from one such town, Ngala, near the Cameroon border, in search of firewood to sell. He said they were seized by members of an armed group, who released some elderly women and some children under the age of 10.

“The exact number of people kidnapped remains unknown but is estimated at more than 200 people,” he said in a statement.

The member of the House of Representatives representing Ngala, Zainab Gimba, put the number at 300, according to Nigerian media reports, and she and other lawmakers called on security forces to free the abductees.

But Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno state, warned the numbers could be too high, saying some of those kidnapped could have gone voluntarily, even to join the militants.

“We are yet to determine the exact number of abducted victims,” he said. “Some may have decided to go voluntarily.

The incident “is about recruitment” for militant groups, the governor said. “They have lost their members and their numbers are depleted and they are now looking for new recruits and women.”

The kidnapping took place a week ago, but news of it did not become widespread for several days.

“Those who venture outside the protective trenches surrounding these towns to forage or farm do so at great risk,” Mr. Fall said, “with killings, kidnappings, forced recruitment and sexual and gender-based violence.” He added that authorities must do more to help displaced people earn a living so they do not have to risk their lives collecting firewood.

Governor Zulum said last month that the government could not do more for displaced communities facing economic hardship, and that the money spent on food and other items for them had already “gigantic.”

Mr Zulum has pursued what analysts call a “aggressive program” of closing camps and relocating displaced people, despite a lack of security in the areas to which they are returned.

The kidnapping took place on Thursday in Kuriga, a small town in Kaduna State. Residents told local media that students had just finished their morning meeting when armed men appeared and marched children into a nearby forest. The school had recently moved from the countryside to the city to improve safety.

There was no official statement from authorities on Thursday afternoon, although Senator Shehu Sani said as many as 232 students could have been kidnapped. a message on X that he was ‘optimistic that their freedom would be secured’.

Nigeria, a diverse country of more than 200 million people, faces many complex security challenges, including herder-farmer conflicts, separatist movements, piracy and violence related to oil theft, as well as jihadist insurgencies, including that of Boko Haram. Kidnapping is a hallmark of all, This is reported by the Nigerian analysis agency SBM Intelligenceand the main motivation is to pay the ransom.

Part of this ransom is paid in cash. Others are paid in food or medicine. Many of the Chibok girls were released in exchange for ransoms that could run into the millions of dollars.

Ismail Alpha contributed reporting from Maiduguri, Nigeria.