5 Foreigners Kidnapped At Zamfara Gold Mining Site

Bandits have abducted five foreign nationals from Burkina Faso who were working at a gold mining site near Arafa village in Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The incident was disclosed by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency and security expert covering the Lake Chad region, in a post on X.

According to him, the attack occurred at about 11:15 a.m. on March 14, when a large group of bandits, reportedly hiding between Arafa and Gidan Dankande villages, stormed the mining site and forcibly took the workers to an unknown destination.

By the time security personnel deployed from a nearby Operation FANSAN YAMMA base arrived at the scene, the assailants had already escaped.

Security sources said efforts are ongoing to track the bandits and secure the safe release of the abducted foreign nationals, with security forces currently combing the area and gathering intelligence on their possible whereabouts.

Mining sites in Zamfara and Plateau states have increasingly become hotspots for violence, with many youths in those areas becoming casualties in frequent clashes.

On January 22, 2026, suspected bandits attacked a mining site in the Capitex area of Kuru community in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State at about 1 a.m., killing seven young miners.

Similarly, on December 16, 2025, unknown gunmen descended on a mining site in Ratoso Fan community in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, killing no fewer than 12 miners and injuring several others. The attackers also abducted three persons and made away with some of the mined minerals.