Armed men kidnapped 10 worshipers on Monday from a mosque in northwest Nigeria, near the border with Niger, police reported.
At around 1:00 a.m. GMT on Monday, armed men entered a mosque in Jibiya, Katsina state, where 47 people were participating in Ramadan prayers, state police spokesman said. , Gambo Isa. “The bandits kidnapped 40 faithful, taking them out of the mosque to drag them into the forest,” he added.
Police and members of vigilante groups were able to track them down and free 30 of the abducted worshipers. The kidnappers fled with 10 worshipers. Police say the attackers came from Dumburum Forest in neighboring Zamfara state, where they have several hideouts.
In Nigeria, these criminal groups act out of greed, and a priori without ideological motivation. But many experts have warned against their rapprochement with jihadist groups present in the northeast of the country, hundreds of kilometers away.
