Shafaq News – Abuja
Gunmen abducted 28 people, including women andchildren, in central Nigeria after intercepting a vehicle carrying worshipperstraveling to mark the birthday of Prophet Muhammad*, according to an internalsecurity report cited by Agence France-Presse on Tuesday.
The assessment, prepared for the United Nations,linked the abduction to the evening of December 21 near the village of Zak inPlateau State’s Bassa area, where armed assailants ambushed the group.
Security agencies launched an investigation, and no group has claimed responsibility.
The incident also coincided with the release of 130schoolchildren in Niger State, marking the final group among more than 250pupils seized a month earlier from a Catholic boarding school, authoritiesconfirmed.
The United Nations has warned of a sharp rise in masskidnappings, noting that recent attacks have largely targeted schoolchildrenwhile other raids have involved worshippers taken from places of worship.
Nigeria’s security situation has also drawn scrutinyfrom the United States, which has voiced concern over violence affectingreligious communities, a characterization Nigerian officials dispute bypointing to overlapping criminal, ethnic, and economic drivers.
Kidnappings across Nigeria are primarily fueled byransom demands and have increasingly shifted into organized, profit-drivenoperations, with a report by SBM Intelligence estimating ransom payments atabout $1.66 million between July 2024 and June 2025.
* Prophet Muhammad is regarded in Islam as the finalmessenger who received the Quranic revelations, and his birth is commemoratedannually on the 12th of the Islamic month of Rabi Al-Awwal, a date observedacross much of the Muslim world.
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