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Armed gangs have plagued the northwest in recent years,
kidnapping for ransom, looting and destroying communities and
murdering civilians. Security forces' attempts to halt their
rampage have met with little success.
Mugira Yusuf, spokesperson for the Zamfara state governor, said
24 students, 10 workers and a security guard were seized by
armed men in the early hours of Friday from the Federal
University of Gusau.
Soldiers had rescued six female students and killed five
abductors during a shoot out, a security source said.
The source said a joint security operation between the army and
police was underway to free those still in captivity.
Kidnappings of students, once a notorious tactic by Islamist
militants to intimidate the population, have become a
money-spinning industry for armed gangs demanding ransom
payments.
President Bola Tinubu promised to end widespread insecurity
during his election campaign earlier this year but he is yet to
spell out how he will tackle the problem.
(Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi,Writing by MacDonald
Dzirutwe;Editing by Alexander Winning and Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
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