Boko Haram gunmen have abducted 16 women in a remote area of northeast Nigeria’s Adamawa
Boko Haram gunmen have abducted 16 women in a remote area of northeast Nigeria’s Adamawa state, police, a lawmaker and locals told AFP on Thursday.
Representative of the area in Nigeria’s lower chamber of parliament, Adamu Kamale, the House of Representatives, confirmed the abduction.
“We received report of the kidnap of 14 women and two girls by gunmen believed to be Boko Haram insurgents near Sabon Garin Madagali village”, said Adamawa state police spokesman Othman Abubakar.
“We have sent search teams to the area and have notified the military who have also deployed personnel for search and rescue operation in the bush to free the hostages.”
Locals said the hostages were seized in the bush while fetching firewood and fishing in a nearby river under the escort of two civilian vigilantes assisting the military against the Islamist insurgents.
“When the civilian vigilantes escorting the women saw the heavily armed Boko Haram fighters advancing on them they fled, leaving the women to their fate,” said Madagali resident Garba Barnabas.
The abduction shows that more security needs to be deployed to protect the people from attacks and abductions.
