Boko Haram Kidnap 16 Women

Nigerian authorities have confirmed that Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, have kidnapped sixteen women in the north east area of the Adamawa state of the country.

It is believed that the Boko Haram members were yielding guns when they abducted the women from a remote area in the north east of the country.

Othman Abubakar, a police spokesperson for the Adamawa state confirmed the kidnappings and said that it is believed that among the women that have been kidnapped, two girls were also taken:

“…We received report of the kidnap of 14 women and two girls by gunmen believed to be Boko Haram insurgents near Sabon Garin Madagali village…We have sent search teams to the area and have notified the military who have also deployed personnel for search and rescue operation in the bush to free the hostages,” he told reporters.

According to Adamu Kamale, a representative in the local government for the area, the abduction occurred on Wednesday. Apparently, the women and two children were taken while they were in the bush busy fetching water and fishing.

Local resident, Garba Barnabas, said that civilian vigilantes that were escorting the women fled upon seeing the Boko Haram members who were, according to him, ‘heavily armed’:

“…[sic] When the civilian vigilantes escorting the women saw the heavily armed Boko Haram fighters advancing on them they fled, leaving the women to their fate,” he concluded.

He also said that authorities in the village were made aware of the situation by two women who escaped the kidnapping by jumping in the river and pretending to drown. They later returned to village and informed the authorities of what had happened.

Thousands of women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram over the past two years, with Nigerian authorities working hard to improve security in rural areas.