Forty-nine women were abducted by Boko Haram while working on farms in Shuwaei Kawuri village, located on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Borno State.

Perpetrators

Boko Haram

Response

A state official paid a ransom of 1 million naira after negotiations; the Borno State Government did not issue an official statement at the time, and the police spokesman did not respond to calls for comment.

Displacement

The victims were internally displaced persons (IDPs) from a camp in the Mafa district, who had been selling firewood to supplement their income.

Socioeconomic drivers

The abduction was financially motivated. The insurgents initially demanded 3 million naira but settled for 1 million naira after negotiations. The victims were poor IDPs who had turned to selling firewood to survive the economic hardship in Nigeria, making them vulnerable to such attacks.

Trajectory

This abduction is consistent with Boko Haram’s long‑standing strategy of targeting IDPs and farmers for ransom. The use of a state official as an intermediary reflects an established pattern of informal negotiations that bypass official government channels.

Cycle notes

This incident is a direct echo of Boko Haram’s long‑standing practice of mass abductions for ransom, most notably the 2014 Chibok kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls and the 2018 Dapchi kidnapping of 110 schoolgirls. Like those incidents, this abduction targeted vulnerable civilians (women IDPs) and was resolved through ransom payments and negotiations. However, unlike the Chibok and Dapchi cases, this abduction did not attract widespread international attention, reflecting a possible desensitisation to such atrocities by 2023.

Pattern

Farmers Targeting

Source

• https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1822185