'If you started running, they shot you' - inside Nigeria's growing kidnapping crisis

A woman named Fatima and many others from Zamfara have been forced into makeshift camps with scarce food and shelter after brutal night raids that killed dozens and emptied villages.
Armed bandit gangs on motorcycles are carrying out fast raids and mass kidnappings across north‑west Nigeria — and attacks have even spread into southern areas once seen as safe.
With police and military overstretched, communities have turned to government‑backed vigilantes and new troop recruits, but insecurity and fear persist.