A commissioner in the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC) (name withheld) and a former Chairman of Niger State Universal Basic Education Board (name withheld) were among the over 30 people abducted by bandits in the state on Monday evening.
The other abductees were traveling in two Sharon commercial vehicles, when the gunmen kidnapped them.
The incident occurred around the Ibbi National Park, along the Zugurma-Ibbi road, while the victims were traveling to New Bussa, headquarters of Borgu Local Government Area.
The gunmen, allegedly numbering over 100, blocked the highway and shot into the air to scare away people before herding their victims into the forest. They were said to have first demobilised the policemen stationed at the entrance to the national park.
According to reports, some farmers who later came out from hiding as a result of the sporadic shooting by the gunmen, saw the vehicles in which the victims were traveling abandoned on the roadside and raised the alarm.
Niger State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Police Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the story when contacted.
Abiodun said the bandits had first attacked and destroyed two police patrol vehicles. He did not say if any policeman was injured by the gunmen.
Abiodun said men of the police tactical teams, in conjunction with other security agencies and vigilante members, were already trailing the kidnappers with a view to rescuing the victims and possibly arresting the gunmen.
Report: Small Arms Proliferation, Non-State Actors, Others May Disrupt Anambra Poll
A report by a civil society organisation, CLEEN Foundation, revealed that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons could mar the November governorship election in Anambra State if urgent steps were not taken to mitigate the challenges.
CLEEN Foundation also identified the violent activities of non-state armed groups, such as IPOB/ESN, politically sponsored cult groups and thugs, the rise of state-sponsored armed vigilantes, as well as misinformation campaigns as other plausible factors.
The report identified Ihiala, Ogbaru, Nnewi South, Orumba North, and Onitsha North as high-risk local government areas to monitor during the poll.
CLEEN Foundation made the disclosure while officially unveiling the 2025 Anambra Governorship Election Security Threat Assessment (ESTA) on Tuesday in Abuja.
Presenting the report to the public, Director of Programmes at CLEEN Foundation, Dr Salaudeen Hashim, stated that Anambra East, Oyi, NnewiNorth, and Awka North were also mapped as emerging flashpoints.
Hashim said the key security risks in the five high-risk local government areas included IPOB-linked violence, sit-at-home enforcement, attacks on offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), riverine insecurity, arms stockpiling, political thuggery, cultism, forest training camps, political assassinations, vigilante-politician collusion, inadequate police coverage, cult turf wars, and youth gang mobilisation.
Hashim itemised key findings of the report as: heightened insecurity in specific local government areas, politicisation of cult and youth gangs, weak security infrastructure, and institutional gaps.
Other concerns, he said, included voter suppression through fear, misinformation, and mobility constraints, community fragmentation, and manipulation of traditional institutions.
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