Gunmen kidnap more than 100 in attack on villages in northwest Nigeria

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, May 11 (Reuters) – More than 100 people were kidnapped by gunmen during Friday night raids on three villages in northwest Nigeria, a district head and residents said on Saturday, the latest abduction of villagers in a region blighted by widespread insecurity.

Kidnapping has become endemic in Nigeria’s northwest as roving gangs of armed men abduct people from villages, highways and schools, and demand ransom money from their relatives.