Gunmen kidnap APC Zonal Chairman in Niger

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Gunmen have abducted a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Aminu Bobi in Mariga Local Government Area of the state.

Aminu Bobi who is the Zone C chairman of the ruling party in the state was kidnapped on his farm last Saturday.

A resident in the area confirmed through a telephone conversation in Minna, said the chairman want to the farm on that day but could not return as he was abducted by the kidnappers.

When contacted for confirmation, the state command Police Public Relations Officer, DSP, Wasiu Abiodun could not be reached as of the time of filing in the report.

Kidnappings are increasingly common in the northwest and central states of Nigeria where heavily armed criminal gangs operate and foreign workers are also occasionally targeted for abduction for ransom.

Kidnap gangs are just one of the challenges facing President Muhammadu Buhari’s security forces who are also battling a 12-year jihadist insurgency in the northeast of Africa’s most populous nation.

Gangs this year have targeted schools and colleges to snatch dozens of students at a time. Around 1,000 students have been abducted in a string of mass kidnappings since December, though most have been freed after negotiations with their captors.