Nigeria: Jihadists take hundreds hostage in northeast

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 08:38 am

Jihadists have taken lots of civilians hostage from a city in northeast Nigeria, locals and militia sources stated Wednesday.

Militants from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of Boko Haram, arrived in Kukawa in the Lake Chad area late on Tuesday with 22 trucks and had been locked in a conflict with guards securing the area, stated Babakura Kolo, head of a neighborhood militia.

The people who had been seized had simply back to their residences after spending almost two years in displacement camps.

A local chief who accompanied the residents to the town stated the human beings had back with the hope of cultivating their farmlands “only to quit up in the hands of the insurgents”.

“We do not comprehend what they would do to them but I hope they don’t harm them,” stated the chief, who asked no longer to be recognized for security reasons.

Hundreds of others have now fled the area.

Over the last decade, many people have fled to squalid displacement camps where they depend on handouts from international charities.

Around two million people have fled their residences in Nigeria due to the decade-long jihadist conflict.

(AFP)