Major kidnapping incidents in northern Nigeria this year

A gang of gunmen kidnapped more than 50 women and children in a raid on Kakin Dawa village in Nigeria's Zamfara state, police and residents said.

Kidnapping has become endemic in the northwest of the West African country as roving gangs of armed men abduct people from villages, highways and schools and demand ransom money from their relatives.

Here are five major kidnappings in the north this year.

** At least 20 medical and dental students travelling for a convention were kidnapped by gunmen in north-central Benue state on Aug. 15. They were released from captivity days later.

** Gunmen abducted more than 100 people during night raids on three villages in Zamfara state on May 10, a district head and residents said.

** Police and residents said on March 18 that around 100 people, including women and children, were kidnapped in attacks in Kaduna state, which is among the worst affected by violence from armed gangs.

** Gunmen seized more than 61 people from Kajuru village in Kaduna on March 12. Residents said armed men dressed in army uniform arrived undetected because they had parked their motorbikes away from the village.

** More than 200 students, some as young as seven, were kidnapped in a daytime attack in northwest Kaduna on March 7, marking the biggest school kidnapping since 2021. The students were later released after a military rescue operation.