JAKARTA - Nigerian authorities have extended the blackout of communication networks in Sokoto State, to cut off communications and take firm action against armed kidnappers who are rampant in the region.
Armed groups known locally as bandits have returned to action for cash by asking for ransom over the past year, kidnapping more than 1,000 students and children from schools, hospitals, neighborhoods and the streets.
Gangs of gunmen seeking lucrative ransom payments, known locally as bandits, have spread across northwestern Nigeria over the past year, kidnapping more than 1,000 students from schools and taking others from hospitals, homes and roads.
Muhammad Bello, Sokoto State special adviser for media and publicity, said the state governor together with Nigeria's Ministry of Communications blocked communication services in 14 local government areas.
Sokoto state earlier this month closed some roads to motorists, suspended the animal trade and banned the transport of more than three people on motorbikes as part of efforts to curb the movement of bandits, Bello said.
The local government took these steps, due to neighboring Zamfara State, one of the states worst hit by a wave of mass kidnappings of students from schools, by gangs of ransom-seeking bandits from remote camps.
Zamfara state was the first to impose a communications blockade earlier this month, with local officials saying some of the bandits who had fled from security forces were hiding in Sokoto.
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