Abuja, Nigeria — Security forces in northwest Nigeria's Zamfara state are searching for women and children gunmen abducted over the weekend.
Residents say at least 80 people were taken, which Zamfara's police commissioner disputes.
Zamfara state police authorities say rescue operations by security forces and local vigilantes resumed Monday morning for nine people, not the 80 that were reportedly abducted over the weekend.
The victims, mostly young women and children were abducted from Wanzamai village as they wandered into the bush to fetch firewood used widely for cooking.
Authorities say the bandits were on the run from an expanding crackdown by security forces when the kidnappings happened.
Local media reports and villagers say more than 80 people were kidnapped and that the bandits are demanding $130,000 ransom.
Zamfara state police spokesman Mohammed Sheru refuted the claims calling them outrageous. He spoke to VOA by phone that, "The [police] command is working towards ensuring safe rescue of the abducted victims. That's the latest update. The police detectives in the kidnap section are working in collaboration with other agencies"
Nigeria has been battling armed gangs for years. Gangs have attacked hundreds of local communities across northwestern Nigeria, routinely taking people hostage until their ransom demands were met.
Zamfara state is one of the areas most affected by the attacks.
Abuja-based Beacon Security analyst Kabir Adamu believes the accounts by residents.
"When I first heard of the development, I reached out to contacts on [the] ground," he said. "I was able to hear from parents whose kids have been missing. First off, they did not take a headcount before they went into the bush, but on the basis of these parents who came forward to say 'my child is missing,' we arrived at a figure between 70 and 80."
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Adamu says cases of kidnapping for ransom dropped by about 80 percent between December and February, according to data from Beacon Security Consulting.
In February's elections in Nigeria, insecurity was a major topic. Security analyst Chidi Omeje says in the weeks since the election that has not changed.
"It's a sad reminder that we're yet to get through from these series of mass abductions, and it's also another reminder that a lot of work needs to be done," Omeje lamented. "We have been numbed, that sense of outrage is no longer there; it's unfortunate."
As outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari hands over power to President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May, many will remind the new government of its failed promises to address Nigeria's insecurity.
Meanwhile, the fate of the kidnapping victims remains uncertain.
