According to a statement released by local officials on Thursday, heavily armed men raided a mine in central Nigeria on Wednesday, killing security guards and seizing workers, including at least four Chinese.
The armed men, popularly referred to as “bandits,” have been robbing villages in central and northwest Nigeria for years in order to abduct or kill locals, but their attacks have recently expanded in scope.
These “bandits” also target mining operations and infrastructure projects, kidnapped foreign workers and holding them for ransom. In recent years, many of Chinese employees have been the target of attacks. Typically, a ransom is paid in order to get them released.
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On Wednesday afternoon, the gunmen attacked a mine in the village of Ajata Aboki, in the Shiroro zone of eastern Niger state, said regional security official Emmanuel Umar. “People employed at the mine site, including four Chinese nationals, were abducted,” he added, saying the exact number of abductees had yet to be determined.
Climate of violence
Security personnel clashed with the attackers, killing both sides, but the exact number of deaths has yet to be determined, the authorities said. They did not specify the raw material extracted from the mine, nor the name of the company in charge of its exploitation.
A climate of almost generalized violence reigns in the north of Africa’s most populous country, plagued by criminal gangs in the west and jihadists in the east, who are multiplying attacks and kidnappings, less than a year before the presidential election.
President Muhammadu Buhari is due to serve his second term in February 2023 and is widely criticised for his inability to curb insecurity. In recent years, violence perpetrated by “bandits” has been on the rise: these criminal gangs killed more than 2,600 civilians in 2021, an increase of more than 250% compared to 2020, according to figures from the NGO Acled.
The “bandits” are motivated by money, not ideology, and often release their hostages after paying a ransom. But analysts are concerned about possible links with jihadist groups in the northeast.
