About 40 children have been abducted by unidentified gunmen in an attack on a farm in Katsina state, northern Nigeria, amid rising insecurity in this part of the African country.
According to information reported by the Nigerian newspaper ‘The Premium Times’, the kidnappers have demanded the payment of 30 million naira (about 70,120 euros) as ransom and have asked for a dialogue with the owner of the farm to present their demands.
The assailants broke into a farm in Mai Ruwa community and abducted 40 people, including 39 minors, after which they contacted some of the parents to demand ransom payments.
Katsina Police spokesman, Gambo Isa, has indicated that the authorities are aware of the situation and assured that efforts are underway to rescue the abductees, without giving a balance of those abducted in the incident.
The insecurity in Nigeria, previously centered in the northeast of the country, has spread in recent months to other areas in the north and northwest, raising alarms about the possible expansion of these terrorist and criminal networks.
