JTF accuses Boko Haram of kidnapping girls

The Joint Task Force (JTF) in Borno State yesterday said it uncovered a new kidnapping tactic by suspected Boko Haram insurgents who now disguise as taxi drivers and pick teenage girls to unknown destinations.

There are reports that hundreds of insurgents who had been dislodged from their enclaves in Sambisa forest and parts of northern Borno have found their way back to Maiduguri.

Spokesman of the JTF, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, said in a statement which was issued to newsmen that the insurgents are now using taxi cabs, mostly Volkswagen Golf or Toyota Starlet with a driver and usually one deceptive passenger in the car and move around the town, soliciting for customers along major roads and highways until they kidnap teenage girls.

For instance, three teenage girls were at different times and places kidnapped in Maiduguri metropolis in less than ten days using this method. Luckily, all the kidnapped girls were rescued by the JTF and handed over to their parents, it said.

In the past, there are no reported cases of kidnapping of girls, rather, dozens of affluent people had been kidnapped and only got released after payment of ransom.

dailytrust