Suspected bandits have abducted 47 farmers, most of them women, while they were harvesting groundnuts in Niger State, with the attackers reportedly demanding ₦2 million for each victim as security forces intensify efforts to locate and rescue those taken into captivity.
The attack occurred in Mariga Local Government Area, with local authorities identifying Tungan Rimi in Ma’undu-Beri Ward as the area where the farmers were seized. Niger State Police Command, however, recorded the incident at Mukura village in Kasuwan-Garba District and said it occurred at about 3 p.m. on September 27, 2026.
Chairman of Mariga Local Government Area, Alhaji Aliyu Bagga Muhammadu, put the number of abducted farmers at 47.
Muhammadu said information available to the council indicated that women were harvesting groundnuts when the armed men invaded the farmland, gathered them together and took them away.
The attackers also encountered men working on neighbouring farms and abducted some of them, according to the council chairman, who said women constituted the majority of the victims.
Reports have differed over whether all 47 victims were women or whether some men were included among those abducted.
This distinction is important because some accounts have described the incident as the abduction of “47 women,” while the council chairman's more detailed account reported by Channels Television said the attackers also seized men working nearby.
The Niger State Police Command has separately confirmed the mass abduction but provided a lower preliminary figure.
Police Public Relations Officer SP Wasiu Abiodun said the command received a report on September 28 indicating that suspected bandits had abducted more than 20 people at Mukura village in the Kasuwan-Garba District of Mariga.
“Joint security rescue efforts are ongoing,” Abiodun said.
The difference between the police figure of more than 20 and the council chairman's figure of 47 had not been officially reconciled at the time of reporting.
The local government chairman also disclosed that one of the abducted women had reportedly given birth while being held by the attackers.
Muhammadu said information reaching him indicated that the woman delivered her baby in captivity following the mass abduction.
No detailed information about the condition of the mother or newborn had been made public.
The development adds another humanitarian concern to an already serious security situation, particularly because the victims' families have limited information about the conditions under which their relatives are being held.
The abductors have reportedly established contact concerning ransom.
According to Muhammadu, the attackers demanded ₦2 million for each of the 47 people he said were abducted. If applied to all 47 victims, the demand would amount to ₦94 million.
The ransom demand comes as security personnel attempt to locate the victims without payment being publicly confirmed.
Military personnel, police officers and local vigilantes have been mobilised as part of efforts to rescue the farmers.
The council chairman said joint security personnel had previously engaged the suspected bandits around the Kasuwan Garba and Beri axis while following their movements. A member of a local vigilante group was reportedly injured during the encounter.
Information gathered from the area suggested that the armed group was subsequently sighted moving between Mangoro and Wamba after reportedly emerging from the Dogon Dawa axis.
The attackers were also reported to have moved towards Bariki Forest, also known locally as Ma’undu, where authorities suspect the abducted farmers may have been taken.
Those details describe the direction in which security teams are concentrating their search but do not establish the victims' precise location.
By Wednesday, a joint team involving Nigerian military and police personnel had moved into the area as the rescue operation continued.
Police maintained that security agencies were working to locate the abductors and secure the release of the victims.
The circumstances of the attack highlight the particular vulnerability of rural farmers in communities affected by armed violence.
Unlike attacks targeting travellers on major highways or residents inside towns, the victims in Mariga were carrying out routine agricultural work when the gunmen arrived.
Groundnut cultivation provides food and income for many rural households, meaning insecurity around farms can have consequences extending beyond the immediate victims.
When farmers fear being kidnapped while planting or harvesting crops, they may reduce the amount of land they cultivate or abandon farms located far from populated communities.
That can reduce household income, disrupt local food production and increase economic pressure on communities already struggling with insecurity.
Women can be particularly affected because they play significant roles in planting, harvesting, processing and selling agricultural produce in many rural communities.
The latest attack therefore raises questions not only about the security of communities but also about whether residents can safely continue farming.
Niger State has faced repeated attacks by armed groups across several local government areas.
The state's large geographical size, forested areas and borders with several other states create significant challenges for security agencies trying to prevent armed groups from moving between communities.
Mariga has experienced previous security incidents involving killings, kidnappings and attacks on rural settlements.
The latest abduction demonstrates that farmers remain exposed even when working collectively on agricultural land.
For the families involved, however, the immediate concern is not the broader security debate but the safe return of their relatives.
Authorities have not announced the payment of any ransom, and there was no official confirmation at the time of reporting that any of the 47 people identified by the council chairman had been released.
The police have also not released the identities of the victims.
As rescue operations continue, clarity over the exact number of abducted people will be important.
The local government chairman's figure of 47 represents the most specific count publicly provided by a local authority, while the Niger State Police Command has officially confirmed more than 20 victims.
Until security agencies complete verification, both figures should be reported with their sources rather than presenting either as universally established.
What is undisputed is that a large group of farmers was taken from agricultural land in Mariga and that women formed a substantial proportion of those abducted.
The incident comes at a particularly sensitive time for farming communities because harvesting periods require farmers to spend extended hours on fields that can be distant from residential areas.
Ensuring security around those communities is therefore directly connected to both public safety and food production.
For Niger State authorities and federal security agencies, the immediate test will be locating the abducted farmers and returning them safely to their families.
For residents of Mariga, the longer-term challenge is ensuring that going to a farm to harvest groundnuts does not expose ordinary people to kidnapping, ransom demands and prolonged captivity.
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