More than 80 reported abducted in Nigeria as police find human remains

More than 80 people have been reported missing in Nigeria after being abducted by armed gangs, a media report said, as authorities announced the discovery of human remains suspected to belong to victims of kidnapping in the southeastern state of Abia.

The AFP news agency reported on Monday that at least 87 people, mostly women, were missing after two separate weekend attacks.

At least 47 farmers were abducted by armed men while harvesting peanuts in the northern Niger State on Saturday, while 40 women were kidnapped in the neighbouring state of Zamfara on Sunday, the agency reported, citing two security reports and a local source.

The kidnappings in the Mariga area of Niger and Yargada in Zamfara are the latest attacks by criminal gangs who specialise in ransom kidnappings and cattle rustling. Locally known as “bandits”, they regularly carry out bloody raids on villages, killing residents and torching homes after looting them.

Separately, police in Abia announced in a statement on Sunday that they found 28 human skulls and bones ”suspected to be [of kidnapped] victims”, after raiding camps linked to criminal groups in the forests.

In a statement on X, the police said suspects at the scene had fled and added that “efforts are intensified to apprehend the fleeing suspects”.

Mass abductions for ransom have become common in parts of northwestern and north-central Nigeria, with armed gangs frequently holding abductees until they are paid large sums of money.

In August, gunmen abducted as many as 600 worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Dekera village in the north-central Niger State.

According to research from SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, armed groups raised some 7.8 billion naira (nearly $6m) in ransom payments between July 2025 and June 2026, more than triple the 2.6 billion naira paid during the same period last year.

The latest wave of kidnappings comes a few months ahead of the January presidential elections, in which security, along with the rising cost of living, is set to be a major issue.

President Bola Tinubu has faced growing criticism over lax security.

Residents of Niger State protested last Monday over the abduction of hundreds of people who, they said, remained in captivity a month after gunmen attacked several communities in one of the country’s largest mass kidnappings.