MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Eighteen girls were abducted on Thursday near the border with Cameroon, while another four women were kidnapped close to Lake Chad, The Guardian said on Saturday.
According to a local resident cited by the newspaper, the girls are likely to be forced into marriage with Boko Haram fighters.
The Boko Haram extremist group began large-scale attacks in northeastern Nigeria in 2009. In 2015, the group expanded its attacks into neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
The extremist group has pledged allegiance to Daesh terrorist organization, outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), about 26 million people in the Lake Chad region have been affected by the Boko Haram activities. An estimated 8.5 Nigerians are in need of humanitarian aid.