Nine Nigerien aid workers kidnapped west of Niamey

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They were kidnapped in the village of Bossey Bangou, near the border with Burkina Faso; we know a little more about their abduction in a prohibited area and in a state of emergency because of growing insecurity.

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With our correspondent in Niamey,  Moussa Kaka

The eleven officers of the NGO were on a mission to target and identify vulnerable populations in the village of Bossey Bangou, for food aid, when they were kidnapped by fourteen jihadists on six motorcycles, according to several witnesses.

Bossey Bangou, a very rich gold zone, not far from the border of Burkina Faso, is beset with growing insecurity. According to a last count made by the local authorities, nine agents of the NGO of two vehicles were taken, two other people who spoke in local Peul language were spared by their captors. It was they who gave the alert to Torodi, the prefecture's chief town. According to well-informed security sources, the jihadists fled in the direction of the Mérignou forest, which serves as their rear base, along the Sirba, a tributary of the Niger river, straddling Niger and Burkina Faso.

How was it possible for a humanitarian team to go so easily to a prohibited area and in a state of emergency? According to the prefecture of Torodi, it was not planned that a team go to Bossey Bangou: the leaders of the NGO acted unilaterally by venturing into this area, without any security force, replied the prefect . A local elected official confirms to us that the humanitarian team was even turned back by an army patrol in the middle of the forest. Turning back, they went around to take the direction of the village where the terrorists kidnapped them.

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• Niger
• Humanitarian