FIVE kidnapped Nigerian sisters have been rescued after their abduction and the death of another sister triggered a public outcry, police said today.

The sisters were seized at the start of the year by armed men who burst into their home just 25km from Abuja city centre, according to the family.

Attackers killed one sister, 21-year-old Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, when a ransom deadline passed.

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police and the army rescued the girls last night in the Kajuru forest in neighbouring Kaduna State.

“The FCT Police has rescued the victims and reunited them with their families,” a police statement said.

A cousin of the girls confirmed to AFP that they were back with the family.

Kidnapping for ransom is a major problem in Nigeria with criminal gangs targeting highways, apartments and even snatching pupils from schools.

Gangs known locally as bandits operate out of bases in forests across the northwest and central states.

After public outrage over the sisters’ case, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu condemned what he called the “recent spate of kidnappings and bandit attacks”.

Tinubu has made tackling insecurity one of his major promises since coming to office in May last year.

Some experts believe the country’s economic situation is driving a rise in kidnappings as desperate Nigerians turn to crime for income.

Nigerian law bans paying ransom to kidnappers, but many families have little faith in the authorities and feel they have no choice.

The kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in northeastern Nigeria by Boko Haram jihadists made global headlines in 2014, but daily abductions rarely gain as much international attention. – AFP, January 21, 2024.