Nigerian gangs reportedly kidnap kids on behalf of Boko Haram

Boko Haram recruited three local gangs in northwest Nigeria to kidnap hundreds of schoolboys on its behalf, security and local sources said Wednesday.

According to AFP, the terrorist group has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, which targeted a secondary school in the town of Kankara, in Katsina state.

The operation was carried out on Boko Haram's orders by a notorious local gangster called Awwalun Daudawa.

Criminal gangs, known as bandits, have terrorized communities in northwest Nigeria for years, and experts had recently warned of attempts by militants to forge an alliance with them.

Daudawa "was an armed robber and a cattle rustler before he turned to gun-running, bringing in weapons from Libya, where he had received training, and selling them to bandits," said a security source.

The attack occurred hundreds of kilometres from Boko Haram's stronghold in northeast Nigeria, where it launched a brutal insurgency a decade ago.

The governor of Katsina state, Aminu Bello Masari, said late Monday that the abductors "have made contacts with the government."

"Talks are ongoing to ensure their safety and return to their respective families," he said on Twitter.

SS