- By Ajeet Kumar
- Sat, 17 May 2025 07:16 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
At least 23 farmers and fishermen were killed, and others were abducted by suspected Islamist militants in northeastern Nigeria's Borno state this week, news agency Reuters reported, citing its sources. Nigeria has been grappling with a long-running insurgency in its northeast, primarily driven by the Islamist armed group Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province. The latest attack happened in the village of Malam Karanti on Thursday morning, the security sources and residents said.
Local resident Sani Auwal said by phone that militants had gathered farmers and fishermen near the village and killed 23 people, many of them bean farmers. They spared an elderly man who later alerted the community, he said. Another local resident, Usman Ali, said the community had tried to recover the bodies of those killed but had been chased back by the militants.
Last month Borno's governor acknowledged that Boko Haram had renewed attacks and kidnappings in the state, reversing previous gains by security forces.
200 school children kidnapped last year
Earlier last year, Gunmen in Nigeria kidnapped more than 200 school pupils in the northern town of Kuriga, a teacher, local councillor, and parents of the missing children said, in the biggest mass abduction from a school since 2021. Local councillor for Kuriga, Idris Maiallura said he had been to the school and said the gunmen initially took 100 primary school pupils but later freed them while others escaped. Parents and residents blamed the kidnapping on a lack of security in the area.
Kidnappings for ransom by armed men have become endemic in northern Nigeria, disrupting daily lives and keeping thousands of children from attending school. The last major reported abduction involving school children in Kaduna was in July 2021 when gunmen took more than 150 students in a raid. The students were re-united months later with their families after they paid ransoms.
(With inputs from agency)
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