{"id":3675,"date":"2025-11-29T16:42:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T16:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/?p=3675"},"modified":"2025-11-29T16:42:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T16:42:17","slug":"nigeria-blames-jihadist-groups-for-wave-of-kidnappings-but-others-accuse-criminal-gangs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/?p=3675","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria blames jihadist groups for wave of kidnappings but others accuse criminal gangs"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"90\" data-end=\"146\"><strong data-start=\"94\" data-end=\"144\">1. News related to events and topics or issues<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"147\" data-end=\"878\">Nigeria has experienced a <strong data-start=\"173\" data-end=\"208\">wave of recent mass kidnappings<\/strong> in the north-west and central regions, including over 250 children abducted from St Mary\u2019s Catholic School in Niger state. Other attacks included abductions at a girls\u2019 secondary school in Kebbi state and a church in Kwara state, with multiple fatalities and dozens of people taken hostage. The Nigerian government has attributed these kidnappings to <strong data-start=\"560\" data-end=\"600\">jihadist groups Boko Haram and ISWAP<\/strong>, while analysts and monitoring groups such as Acled suggest that <strong data-start=\"666\" data-end=\"725\">local armed gangs, known as \u201cbandits\u201d or Fulani militia<\/strong>, were primarily responsible. The incidents have raised national and international concern, putting the security situation in Nigeria in the spotlight.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"880\" data-end=\"883\" \/>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"885\" data-end=\"935\"><strong data-start=\"889\" data-end=\"933\">2. Causes of events and topics or issues<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"936\" data-end=\"1702\">The kidnappings are part of a broader <strong data-start=\"974\" data-end=\"1006\">security and criminal crisis<\/strong> in Nigeria. Kidnap-for-ransom has become a lucrative activity, with perpetrators ranging from bandits and jihadists to separatist groups. Analysts say the <strong data-start=\"1162\" data-end=\"1228\">recent north-western attacks were carried out by local bandits<\/strong>, often on motorbikes, rather than Boko Haram or ISWAP, who operate mostly in the north-east. Some kidnappings appear motivated by <strong data-start=\"1359\" data-end=\"1424\">political objectives, territorial expansion, or economic gain<\/strong>, such as forcing local displacement for mining activities. In contrast, abductions in north-eastern Borno state remain consistent with jihadist activity. The government has not disclosed specific evidence for attributing the mass north-western kidnappings to jihadist groups.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"1704\" data-end=\"1707\" \/>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1709\" data-end=\"1776\"><strong data-start=\"1713\" data-end=\"1774\">3. Lessons to be learned from events and topics or issues<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"1777\" data-end=\"2449\">The crisis highlights the need for <strong data-start=\"1812\" data-end=\"1895\">better intelligence, targeted security operations, and stronger law enforcement<\/strong> to protect vulnerable communities, particularly schools and churches. It shows how local conflicts, ethnic tensions, and economic interests intersect with broader insurgencies, complicating responses. Authorities must differentiate between <strong data-start=\"2136\" data-end=\"2174\">criminal gangs and jihadist actors<\/strong> to deploy appropriate strategies. The incidents also underline the importance of preventing ransom payments from fueling future kidnappings and investing in long-term community security, conflict resolution, and development programs to address the root causes of violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1. News related to events and topics or issues Nigeria has experienced a wave of recent mass kidnappings in the north-west and central regions, including over 250 children abducted from St Mary\u2019s Catholic School in Niger state. Other attacks included abductions at a girls\u2019 secondary school in Kebbi state and a church in Kwara state, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,21,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banner","category-crime","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3675"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3677,"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3675\/revisions\/3677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scientifictelevision.com\/america\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}