A dozen children kidnapped in Nigeria

AFP November 02, 2026 Less than a minute read

MINNA, NIGERIA:

Armed men have kidnapped around a dozen children in central Nigeria, local and security sources told AFP Sunday, in the latest mass abduction in the country's troubled Niger state.

Gunmen on motorcycles seized the children on Saturday near the town of Maigujeri in Rafi district while they were returning from a farm where they had been helping their Quranic school teacher harvest maize, the sources said.

A security report seen by AFP said 18 children had been abducted, while local resident Mohammed Abdullahi said the number was closer to 12.

The kidnapping is the latest in a wave of attacks by heavily armed criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, who have intensified violent raids, abductions and cattle theft in Niger State in recent months.