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Maiduguri — Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped at least 20 young mothers near a town in northeast Nigeria where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted nearly two months ago, sources said yesterday.
There were conflicting reports of how many women were abducted from the nomadic settlement near Chibok in Borno state, with one local leader putting the number as high as 40.

But the latest kidnappings, which happened on Saturday in and around the village of Garkin Fulani, 8km from Chibok, were the latest in a spate in the area.

“Available information revealed that the gunmen came around noon and abducted 20 women and three young men left to keep watch on the village,” said Alhaji Tar, of a local vigilante group.

“All the males in the settlement were away in the bush with their herd of cattle for grazing when the abductors came to the village.”
There was no immediate indication of where the women were taken and there had been no contact from the kidnappers.

A local official of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria (Macban) said 40 young mothers were singled out and put into vehicles before being driven to an unknown location.

Macban is the umbrella organisation of the nomadic Fulani cattle herders in Nigeria.
Similar kidnappings for ransom have been going on in the area for some time but locals were too afraid to speak out in fear of reprisals from the Islamist militants, the official said.

“This is not the first time women are being kidnapped in this area and only released when we pay cattle ransom to the kidnappers. It has happened several times,” said the official.

“They come and go door-to-door bringing women outside and select young women and take them away in their vehicles and demand between 30 and 40 cows for their release”, he explained.

Locals always paid the ransom but do not inform the authorities, he said.
A Borno state government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the authorities were aware of the kidnapping of women from the village but denied knowledge of previous abductions.

“This is the first time we are hearing abduction of Fulani women and we are working to establish the circumstances surrounding the kidnap and necessary action to take,” he added.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s ruling party has been given another headache in the run-up to next year’s general election, with the appointment of the former central bank governor to an influential religious post.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was named Emir of Kano on Sunday, making him the second most-powerful Islamic leader in the country and giving him immediate influence across the Muslim-majority north.

But with Sanusi’s background and the allegiances of the Kano state governor who approved his appointment, domestic politics and jockeying for position before next year’s vote have been suspected.

Dapo Thomas, a political scientist at Lagos state university, said Sanusi, as a grandson of a former emir and member of a ruling house in the northern state, had all the right credentials to win.

Kano state governor Rabiu Kwankwaso was also within his rights to approve the recommendation of four royal “kingmakers”, who met in private to discuss the succession after the late emir’s death on Friday, he said.

But he added: “Although, he is supposed to be apolitical, Sanusi’s choice may indirectly affect the political fortunes of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan, given the frosty relationship between them,” he said.

“Sanusi was sacked as CBN [Central Bank of Nigeria] governor and I am not sure he can easily forgive Jonathan and his party for that.
“As a traditional and religious leader, an emir wields a lot of influence among the people and this may not augur well for the president and the PDP,” he said.

The PDP’s fortunes in northern Nigeria had taken a nosedive even before last weekend’s events.
Jonathan and his party saw a wave of defections of influential state governors to the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) late last year.

Most of them were from the north and Kwankwaso was among them.
That, and the switch in sides of a number of PDP lawmakers, eroded Jonathan’s power base and parliamentary majority, strengthening the APC’s hand as it looks set to win the presidency for the first time.

Local government elections in Kano recently saw the APC secure a landslide victory, while Kwankwaso — tipped as a potential presidential candidate – enjoys popular support.

High-profile Sanusi, who is credited with turning round the fortunes of Nigeria’s banking sector, was suspended from his post in February after alleging corruption at the heart of government.

The government’s claim of misconduct and financial recklessness against Sanusi was seen as politically motivated.
Jonathan was quick to express his condolences to the late emir on Friday. But he has yet to formally congratulate Sanusi. — AFP