'Bandits' kidnap more than 50 people in Nigeria's northwest

Gunmen kidnapped more than 50 people in northwest Nigeria in a mass abduction, according to a private conflict monitoring report created for the United Nations and seen by AFP on Sunday.

"Armed bandits" targeted the village of Sabon Garin Damri in Zamfara state on Friday, the report said.

The gangs often kidnap for ransom, loot villages and demand taxes.

The report said this was the first "mass capture" incident in the Bakura local government area this year, "the recent trend of mass captures in Zamfara has been concerning," noting "a shift in bandit strategy toward more large-scale attacks in northern Zamfara."

Bandits kill 33 people despite receiving ransom

Nigeria's "banditry" crisis originated in conflict over land and water rights between herders and farmers, but has morphed into organised crime, with gangs preying on rural communities.

The attacks have driven people away from their farms.

Last month, bandits in Zamfara killed 33 people they had kidnapped in February despite receiving a $33,700 ransom, while three babies died in captivity, officials and residents said.

Two weeks ago, Nigerian troops killed at least 95 members of an armed gang in a shootout and airstrikes in the northwest state of Niger.