Nigeria. Two million people were kidnapped within a year

The report found that 91 percent of kidnappings were related to ransom demands, while other cases were linked to political, criminal or terrorist motives.

IN Nigeria Violence most often occurs in the northwestern and central states, where approximately five thousand armed gangs operate in the forests and have turned kidnapping for ransom into a profitable business. Groups of armed young men and teenagers are taking advantage of the economic crisis in the country. One of its effects is underinvestment in the police and its absence in rural areas, where violence most often occurs.

The report was published just days after a group of armed men kidnapped more than 50 women in the northwestern town of Kakin Dawa in Zamfara state. According to witnesses, bandits armed with assault rifles went door to door and dragged women out of their homes.

In March last year, armed bandits kidnapped over 130 students in the northwestern city of Kuriga.

Kidnappings in Nigeria are carried out not only by common bandits, but also by the Islamist group Boko Haram, which became famous in 2014 when it kidnapped 276 students from a girls' school in Chibok in the north-eastern state of Borno. Some of the girls were never released, and most of them were married off to the group's fighters against their will.

A December report by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics also revealed that over 600,000 people were killed “due to insecurity” during the twelve months. Nigerians. “Seven out of ten households reported cases of murder to the police, with 33% of households responding that the murderer was an unknown person and 23.4% confirming that the murderer was a member of the household,” according to data published by NBS.