ABUJA: The Nigerian government announced the release of more than 300 kidnapping victims on Wednesday, including 163 taken from a single village in the west of the country earlier this year.
Kidnapping for ransom by criminal groups, militants and non-ideological gangs known as bandits has become a major crisis in Nigeria, especially areas with little state presence in the north and center of the country.
In February, suspected militants attacked the village of Woro, Kwara state, near the border with Benin, killing more than 150 people and kidnapping an unknown number.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu warmly welcomes the successful rescue of 308 Nigerian citizens who were abducted in different attacks in Niger and Kwara states,” presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said.
He added that 163 were from Woro “and 145 from Niger State.”
