March 29 (UPI) — Ten people in the Konduga area of Nigeria’s Borno state were abducted after weekend raids by the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram, a security official said.
Ibrahim Abdullah of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps said that four women and six youths were kidnapped after insurgents on motorcycles attacked nearby villages, the newspaper Premium Times reported Wednesday, citing the News Agency of Nigeria. Abdullah added that the abductions are a sign that Boko Haram, which he said has been degraded by the Nigerian military, is attempting to recruit more young people by any means possible.
The abductions are the first reported in the area, the former Boko Haram stronghold in northeastern Nigeria, in several months.
The Islamist insurgent group has conducted a seven-year battle with Nigerian forces. Although the army has largely contained the group and reclaimed most of the territory lost to Boko Haram control, small-scale raids on the civilian population still occur. Official estimates say about 100,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks since 2009.
