Can Nigeria’s security forces ever get ahead of the armed gangs that keep sweeping through rural communities in the north? That question hangs over the country once again after at least 87 people — most of them women — were seized in two separate raids inside just two days, in Niger and Zamfara states. The abductions underscore how deeply rooted the kidnapping crisis has become across the rural north, where farming families, travelers and even schoolchildren live under the constant threat of being taken.

Two raids, less than 48 hours apart

The first attack unfolded on a Saturday in the Mariga area of Niger State. Gunmen descended on farmland while residents were harvesting groundnuts, grabbing at least 47 farmers, many of them women, according to a local account and a security report prepared for humanitarian organizations. The assailants reportedly arrived on roughly 50 motorcycles before scattering in multiple directions. Local information suggested the captives could be held in the Ma’undu forest. No ransom demand had reached the families at the time the accounts emerged.

The following day, Sunday, a second attack hit neighboring Zamfara State. Around 40 women were reported taken in Yargada, within the Gusau district, according to a security report drawn up for the United Nations. Nearby villages — Yargada, Maikogo and Magama Mairake among them — were also said to have been raided, with homes and vehicles set ablaze.

The true toll may be higher still. Residents who spoke about the raids described more than 50 women and children seized across several villages. Those figures are hard to confirm independently, given how isolated the affected areas are and the insecurity that prevails there.

Bandits: a threat distinct from jihadist groups

These assaults are blamed on armed gangs widely known in Nigeria as “bandits.” They are distinct in origin from jihadist organizations such as Boko Haram or the Islamic State West Africa Province, even though the lines between organized crime, banditry and jihadist insurgency can sometimes blur.

Across northwestern and central Nigeria, these groups have for years carried out kidnappings for ransom, cattle theft and raids on villages, using vast forested zones as hideouts and staging grounds. Authorities struggle to control these rural territories, which often lie far from major urban centers.

In Zamfara State, residents suggested the Sunday attacks may have been reprisals for the killing of several gang members by local militias. That account remains a local testimony and has not been independently established.

Kidnapping as a criminal economy

Beyond the violence, abductions have turned into a genuine revenue stream for armed groups. Data from SBM Intelligence points to roughly 7.78 billion nairas — about 5.8 million dollars — paid in ransoms between July 2025 and June 2026, more than triple the amount recorded in the previous period.

The same report estimates 7,825 people were abducted during that span, a 66 percent rise in a single year. These figures hint at the scale of the phenomenon, even though they draw on data collected from various sources and do not necessarily amount to an exhaustive count.

The situation is all the more troubling because abductions do not only target farmers or travelers. Schoolchildren, families and entire village populations are regularly singled out. In May 2026, more than 80 children went missing after attacks on schools in Borno and Oyo states.

Government steps up military operations

In response, President Bola Tinubu’s government says it has intensified its fight against terrorist groups, bandits and kidnapping networks.

The Nigerian military is now running several operations simultaneously on different fronts. In the northeast, Operation Hadin Kai focuses mainly on Boko Haram and ISWAP. In the northwest, Operation FANSAN YAMMA targets armed groups behind many of the attacks and abductions in states such as Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Sokoto. Other operations are underway in the center of the country.

Authorities highlight a strategy that combines ground operations, airstrikes, intelligence work, arrests and rescue missions. According to the federal Ministry of Information, Nigerian forces have stepped up operations against bandit and kidnapper networks in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, Kaduna and several other regions.

Military figures illustrate the scale of the offensive. For July and August 2026, Defense Headquarters says 7,062 operations were conducted nationwide. The army claims it neutralized 1,487 terrorists and insurgents, arrested 354 suspects and freed 777 kidnapped people, while recovering nearly a thousand firearms. These figures come from military authorities and cannot all be independently verified.

In the northwest, the army also announced in late September the rescue of 14 kidnapped people during an operation in Kaduna and Katsina states. Authorities say they additionally recovered weapons and intercepted individuals suspected of belonging to terrorist networks.

Results that still fail to halt the abductions

Despite these operations, the steady drumbeat of kidnappings shows the problem remains deeply entrenched. Days before the latest attacks, residents of Niger State had protested to demand the release of hundreds of people taken in coordinated raids in August. Local estimates put the number of captives at nearly 700, a figure authorities had not confirmed.

The government’s challenge is therefore twofold: weakening armed groups while preventing them from rebuilding in hard-to-reach rural areas. Security forces must also dismantle the logistics networks, arms traffickers and financial circuits that let criminal groups fund their operations.

The latest abductions in Niger and Zamfara states serve as a reminder of a persistent reality: military pressure yields occasional results, including arrests and hostage releases, but it has not yet ended the kidnapping economy.

For rural populations, the threat remains a daily one. Tending a field, heading to market or crossing a forested area can still expose residents to abduction. And as long as armed groups retain the ability to move, hide and demand ransoms, security operations will need to be paired with a sustained effort in intelligence, community protection and territorial control.

The 87 abductions reported over the weekend are less an isolated episode than another signal of how hard it remains for Nigeria to restore lasting security in parts of the north.

By Boureima Amadou — Reporter