Security Forces Enter Niger Forest To Rescue Kidnapped Farmers

(Soldiers to rescue kidnapped farmers. Photo by BBC News)

Soldiers and police have gone into a forest in Niger State to free farmers taken away by suspected bandits.

Police spokesman Wasiu Abiodun said in an online message on Wednesday that the team was searching Mukura village in Kasuwan-Garba District, Mariga Local Government Area.

He said the police got a report on September 28, 2026 that the bandits seized over twenty people in Mukura village at about 3pm on September 27.

He added that the rescue is still going on.

Reports online say more than 47 farmers were picked up while harvesting groundnuts on their farms at Tungan Rimi in Ma'undu-Beri Ward of the area.

Most of them were women, along with a few men.

The Mariga Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Aliyu Muhamadu, confirmed the kidnapping on Tuesday.

He said one of the women gave birth while in the kidnappers camp.

He also said the kidnappers had called some of the victims' families and were asking for 2 million naira for each person.

According to him, security agents and local vigilantes have been sent after the victims.

He said they fought a gun battle with the attackers at Alibani village after passing through Kasuwan Garba and Biri, and one vigilante was hurt.

A local source who asked not to be named said he saw the gunmen moving between Mangoro and Wamba after coming from the Dogon Dawa side.

He said they entered Bariki Forest, also called Ma'undu, where the victims are believed to be kept.