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full screen Soldiers patrol outside a school in Nigeria where a kidnapping was carried out earlier in March. Archive image. Photo: Sunday Alamba/AP/TT
More than 100 people have been kidnapped in two new attacks in northwestern Nigeria, just weeks after more than 250 schoolchildren were captured in the same state, residents and officials said.
The kidnappings were carried out on different occasions in Kaduna state over the weekend.
On Sunday evening, more than 85 people were kidnapped by armed men, according to Ibrahim Gajere, chairman of the local government.
On Saturday, more than 15 people were kidnapped, according to information from a resident, a UN source and a former local official.
Criminal gangs often carry out mass kidnappings in northwestern Nigeria, targeting schools, villages and major roads where they can quickly kidnap large numbers of people for ransom.