Armed attackers seized a total of 14 people, including 13 women and an infant, during a devastating overnight raid on the village of Chacho in Nigeria’s northwestern Sokoto State, marking the latest escalation in a wave of mass kidnappings plaguing the West African nation.
The assault, which took place on the night of Saturday to Sunday, saw the abduction of a bride and ten of her bridesmaids from a house in the village’s Zango neighborhood, a local resident confirmed to the AFP news agency. A baby, the baby’s mother, and another woman were also taken by the assailants, often referred to locally as “bandits.”
Aliyu Abdullahi, a resident of Chacho, highlighted the community’s vulnerability, noting this was the second major attack in recent months. “Bandits stormed our village last night and kidnapped 14 persons,” Abdullahi stated. “We had to pay ransom to secure their freedom [after the October attack]. Now, we are faced with the same situation.”
The incident occurs amid a sharp increase in organized banditry in the region. A Nigerian intelligence report seen by the AFP confirmed the attack and pointed to a disturbing trend: Sokoto State witnessed its highest number of such abductions in November over the past year. The report suggested that security deals struck by neighboring states, intended to curb bandit activity, may be inadvertently displacing the armed groups into Sokoto.
This attack follows two other high-profile incidents last week: the successful rescue of 25 students taken in nearby Kebbi State, and the ongoing search for over 300 students abducted in Niger State.
The relentless violence and the failure to fully contain the armed gangs have heaped intense pressure on the Nigerian government. In response to the growing national security crisis, President Bola Tinubu declared a nationwide emergency earlier this week.
The protracted unrest has also drawn international scrutiny. Former United States President Donald Trump recently threatened to carry out attacks in Nigeria in response to claims of anti-Christian violence.
While human rights organizations are urging the Nigerian government to significantly increase its security response and protect rural communities, experts caution that characterizing the country’s complex security situation, which is largely driven by criminal and economic motives, as a simple “Christian genocide” is both false and overly simplistic. The immediate focus remains on securing the release of the 14 new abductees and halting the devastating cycle of ransom kidnappings.
