Zamfara – Gunmen in Nigeria’s northern Zamfara state have killed 35 hostages from Banga village despite receiving ransom payments from their families, a local government official confirmed on Monday. The victims were among 56 villagers abducted in March from the Kauran Namoda local government area. The attackers demanded one million naira (approximately $655) per person. Families struggled to meet the demand, eventually delivering the money in an effort to secure their loved ones’ release.
On Saturday, the abductors freed 18 people, including 17 women and a young boy. But just hours later, word spread that the remaining captives had been executed.
“They were slaughtered like rams,” Kauran Namoda Chairman Manniru Haidara Kaura said. “Only the gunmen know why they killed them. They are senseless and heartless. They forget they are killing their own people.”
Sixteen of the released individuals are currently receiving medical treatment at a local hospital. The physical condition and trauma of the survivors underscore the brutality of their captivity. The bodies of the 35 victims are not expected to be recovered, as abductors in the region rarely return corpses after killings.
This incident adds to the growing list of mass abductions and killings plaguing northern Nigeria, where heavily armed gangs referred to locally as “bandits” target rural communities. Kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative enterprise, with little resistance from under-resourced security forces.
Nigeria’s federal government passed a law in 2022 criminalizing the payment of ransom. The law stipulates a minimum sentence of 15 years for anyone who pays kidnappers, and allows the death penalty if a victim is killed. However, no convictions have been recorded under the statute. Families say the law does nothing to deter desperate actions when loved ones are taken.
“We had no choice but to pay. The government has failed to protect us,” said a relative of one victim, who requested anonymity due to fear of reprisal. “They tell us not to pay, but then what are we supposed to do when no one comes to help?”
Zamfara remains one of Nigeria’s hardest-hit states by kidnappings, with repeated attacks on villages, schools, and highways. Efforts by state and federal authorities to contain the violence have so far yielded limited results, despite military deployments and security crackdowns.
Local officials have urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to declare a state of emergency in the region and increase funding for community protection.
For now, families in Banga village are mourning in silence, their grief deepened by the knowledge that they did everything they could and still lost.
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