The causes of rising numbers of kidnappings are multiple, including difficult economic times and overstretched security forces facing threats on several fronts.
\nImage: Stock image
\nAminu Magami, a taxi driver in northwest Nigeria, froze in fear when more than 20 gunmen stormed an expressway one night in February, shooting into the air.<\/p>\n
“One of them ran towards my car” as Magami was stuck, the road blocked. “I just sat there and raised my hands, begging them,” he recounted.<\/p>\n
Magami was taken hostage in his native Zamfara State, where he was held captive and tortured for nearly a month.<\/p>\n
His home state is reeling from a spate of attacks, with 203 crime-related deaths and 281 kidnappings in the first three months of 2019, according to Nigeria’s top police officer, Mohammed Adamu.<\/p>\n
This is nearly half the 685 kidnappings countrywide in the first quarter of the year – an average of seven per day.<\/p>\n
Another 1,071 people were killed in crime-related violence, Adamu recently told reporters.<\/p>\n
In Nigeria, kidnappings for ransom have been a risk in the oil-rich south for decades.<\/p>\n
But in recent years, the practice has spread to other areas, with northwest Nigeria – the home region of President Muhammadu Buhari – an increasingly concerning criminal front.<\/p>\n
The number of reported abductions across the country is rising, according to security experts.<\/p>\n
The causes are multiple, including difficult economic times and overstretched security forces facing threats on several fronts – Islamist insurgents and land battles between herders and farmers.<\/p>\n
Torture<\/p>\n
Magami and his passengers, two women and three children – including a baby – were kidnapped in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state.<\/p>\n
They were chained and held captive in dark huts with dozens of others, in a dense forest that spreads across northwest Nigeria and neighbouring Niger, a haven for criminal and militia groups.<\/p>\n
Armed kidnappers called Magami’s family daily, demanding huge ransoms. His family -traders and farmers – struggled to get together the 440,000 naira ($1,222) to pay the captors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The causes of rising numbers of kidnappings are multiple, including difficult economic times and overstretched security forces facing threats on several fronts. Image: Stock image Aminu Magami, a taxi driver in northwest Nigeria, froze in fear when more than 20 gunmen stormed an expressway one night in February, shooting into the air. “One of them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":10315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,15],"tags":[246,278,277],"class_list":["post-10314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-community","tag-hostages","tag-kidnapping"],"yoast_head":"\n