kidnapped - The African Mirror

Aug

19

2024

LIBYA: Central Bank suspends operations after official is abducted

NEWS

LIBYA'S central bank, located in Tripoli, has announced that it would halt all activities until one of its senior officials, kidnapped earlier in the day, is freed. This decision could have significant economic ramifications, as the central bank is the internationally recognized institution responsible for managing Libya’s oil revenues—a crucial income source for the country, which remains divided between two rival administrations in Tripoli and Benghazi. According to Reuters, the Libyan Central Bank has reported that Musaab Muslam, head of its IT department, had been abducted by unknown assailants, prompting the institution to suspend operations. The bank condemned the incident,…

May

23

2024

By CAMILLUS EBOH

Police rescue at least 22 people kidnapped from suburb of Nigeria’s capital

NEWS

At least 22 people kidnapped by gunmen from the suburban Dawaki district of Abuja, Nigeria's capital, were rescued, police and residents said. Kidnapping for ransom is rife in Nigeria as roving gangs of armed men target people in remote areas, highways and schools. While there have been a few attacks and kidnappings around Abuja in recent years, the incidents have been largely consigned to the outskirts of the city where security is lax. Nicholas Olayinka, a resident, told Reuters on Tuesday that a large number of hooded gunmen in military uniforms invaded the parts of the district at about 7:40…

May

13

2024

By The African Mirror

Kidnapped Nigerian university students rescued

NEWS

NIGERIAN security forces have rescued students kidnapped from a university in northern Kogi state, along with other victims held by the abductors, the army and state government said. Kogi information commissioner Kingsley Femi Fanwo said security forces were involved in a shootout with the armed gang that carried out Thursday's abduction at Confluence University of Science and Technology. The state had enlisted the help of local hunters who know the Kogi terrain, and a security agent and hunter were wounded. The Nigerian army said in a separate statement that troops, other security agencies and local vigilantes were involved in "a fierce firefight"…

Apr

18

2024

By CATARINA DEMONY

Caribbean ambassador calls for global action to establish slavery tribunal

NEWS

A high-level Caribbean ambassador said that it was crucial to establish a new international special tribunal to seek reparations for transatlantic slavery and its legacies in today's society. Reuters reported earlier this month that support was building among African and Caribbean nations for the creation of such a tribunal on atrocities dating to transatlantic slavery. For over four centuries at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported thousands of kilometres by mainly European ships and merchants and sold into slavery. David Comissiong, the Barbados ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and a well-known reparations advocate, said a tribunal was needed as…

Mar

20

2024

By GARBA MUHAMMAD and HAMZA IBRAHIM

Gunmen in Nigeria kidnap about 100 in weekend attacks

NEWS

GUNMEN in Nigeria kidnapped around 100 people, including women and children, in two weekend attacks in Kaduna state, residents and police said. Kidnappings by criminal gangs demanding ransoms have become an almost daily occurrence in Nigeria, especially in the north, with authorities seemingly powerless to stop them. Kaduna police spokesperson Mansur Hassan confirmed the incident in Kajuru Station village on Sunday night but could not give a figure on those missing. He said security agents had been deployed to rescue the villagers. Tanko Wada Sarkin, a village head, said 87 people were taken. "We have so far recorded the return…

Mar

08

2024

By The African Mirror

Suspected insurgents kidnap 50 people in northeast Nigeria

NEWS

Suspected Islamist insurgents kidnapped 50 people, mostly women, in northeastern Nigeria this week, local officials and a resident said, the latest mass abduction by fighters who have waged an insurgency for more than a decade. Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters have mainly operated in Borno state in the northeast, targeting security forces and civilians, in the process killing and displacing tens of thousands of people. Advertisement · Scroll to continue The latest incident took place on Monday in the remote Gamboru area, which shares a border with Chad and Cameroon, said an official of the…

Dec

31

2023

By The African Mirror

Two South Koreans released after being kidnapped in Nigeria

NEWS

TWO South Koreans kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria earlier this month have been released safely, Seoul's foreign ministry said. The two men were taken after gunmen ambushed their convoy in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta on December 12, killing four soldiers guarding the group and two civilian drivers. "On Friday, we secured custody of the two abducted Korean citizens," the ministry said in a statement. "Both people are currently in good health, and after a hospital checkup, they moved to a safe area and spoke with their families." Attacks by militants in the Niger Delta have dwindled over the years. But the region…

Mar

22

2023

By The African Mirror

French, US hostages released after years of captivity in West Africa

NEWS

BOUREIMA BALIMA and HUMEYRA PAMUK FRENCH journalist Olivier Dubois was hugged by emotional reporters at a briefing in Niger announcing the release of him and U.S. aid worker Jeffery Woodke who had been held hostage in West Africa for years by Islamist militants. Dubois was kidnapped in Mali in 2021, while Woodke was kidnapped in neighbouring Niger in 2016. Dubois had appeared in a video last August urging authorities to do everything they could to free him from his captors. Some journalists embraced him upon arrival at the briefing at the airport in the capital Niamey, moved by the sight…

Jan

26

2023

By The African Mirror

WHO doctor kidnapped in eastern Mali

NEWS

UNIDENTIFIED assailants in eastern Mali have abducted a doctor working for the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.N. agency said in a statement. Dr Mahamadou Diawara was taken from his car on Monday in the town of Menaka, located in an eastern region where jihadist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State are active. Assailants also attacked his driver but left him behind. WHO "is working with local authorities to investigate the abduction and ensure our colleague's quick return to his family," the statement said. Diawara was sent to Menaka at the start of 2020. He has been leading…

Jan

21

2023

By The African Mirror

How woman survived jihadist abductors

NEWS

THIAM NDIAGA PIERCING thorns and stones underfoot did not stop the young woman as she charged through thickets, baby strapped to her back, fleeing armed militants who had kidnapped her with dozens of others in northern Burkina Faso last week. Now back home in the town of Arbinda along with a few who also managed to escape, the 20-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous for fear over her safety, recounted the ordeal that started when unknown men fired gunshots and then closed in on her as she was scouring the bush for food. Burkina Faso authorities said about 50 women were…