Some yet-to-be-identified bandits have abducted at least 80 children in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, causing tension in the area.
According to reports obtained by NIGERIACRIME, the abductees, who were kidnapped early Friday, are between the ages of 12 and 17.
The assailants rounded the children up when they were sent to the bush to fetch firewood around 8:00 a.m. and marched them away into the forest, according to a statement by some of the parents of the abducted children.
Despite several government interventions to tackle the criminal activity in the state, bandits ramped up their activities in the troubled Zamfara. Hundreds of schoolchildren have been kidnapped and some later released upon payment of ransom.
The abductors are yet to reach the parents to make any demands as of the time BBC reported the kidnap.
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Meanwhile, three persons have been confirmed dead and several others declared missing after a boat conveying goods and passengers capsized in Bayelsa State.
It was learnt that the boat, which usually conveys about a hundred passengers, who are mainly traders, capsized on the Yenagoa-Brass waterways near Okoroma in Nembe Local Government Area.
A source, who was part of the rescue operation, identified the recovered corpses as those of Mrs Biodoumoye Romeo and Ms Ayebatorudigiyo Amakiri, while the third victim, a boat worker, was unidentified.
The mishap was said to have occurred on Thursday at 1:30 pm, throwing the Nembe and Brass communities into grief even as search efforts are still ongoing.
Confirming the incident, Bayelsa State Chairman of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Ogoniba Ipigansi, said goods worth millions of naira were lost in the mishap.
According to him, also, three persons have been confirmed dead.
He said, “The boat, MV Tari, capsized and we have been battling to rescue goods and the passengers. Some of the items have been recovered. We used speed boats, barges and open boats to salvage the goods, but we couldn’t rescue all.”