At approximately 10:15 am local time, unidentified gunmen ambushed a U.N. convoy in the Nyiragongo area as it was travelling from Goma, the capital of North Kivu province to visit a World Food Programme (WFP) school feeding project in Rutshuru. Three people were killed in the attack, including the Italian ambassador to the DRC an Italian carabinieri--who guarded the ambassador-- and their local driver. The governor of North Kivu province told reporters that the assailants stopped the convoy by firing warning shots, then killed the driver and attempted to lead the Italians into a forest by the side of the road. Park rangers then opened fire, and the two were killed in the ensuing firefight. An unspecified number of people were also wounded in the attack. Though no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the interior ministry blamed the attack on the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan Hutu rebel group active in the region for more than a quarter of a century. The group however denied the allegation. (rueters.com, 17 February 2021 & washingtonpost.com, 22 February 2021 & africanews.com, 23 February 2021)

A Qatari businessman and his friend from the Iskenderun district of Hatay province were kidnapped, before the local police rescued them in the city of Adna in the Adna province and arrested the gang that demanded a large ransom in return for their release. According to local media reports, the Turkish gang demanded a ransom of US$400,000 from the family of the businessman, who was kidnapped on February 1, and had already received half the amount by the time he was rescued. The gang moved the two to the city of Adna and reportedly threatened to transfer him to Syria if the rest of the ransom was not paid by the end of February. The police raided the gang’s safe house where the two victims were held and rescued them while arresting five 5 of the 9-member gang. A video clip published by the Turkish media showed the police raid, the arrest of the kidnappers and the seizure of their belongings, including identity cards, passports, and bank cards, as well as the weapons they used to kidnap the victims. The police returned the Qatari businessman and his friend to the Iskenderun area, in preparation for his return to Doha. (gulfnews.com, 7 February 2021)

At around 5 pm local time, an al-Shabab suicide bomber detonated a VBIED at a checkpoint outside the Hotel Afrik, located about 2 km/1 mile north of Mogadishu Aden Adde International Airport. Immediately after the blast, a group of four militants stormed the hotel tossing grenades and indiscriminately firing at guests and employees. The gunmen barricaded themselves in the facility, which is a popular meeting place for politicians, lawmakers and high-ranking members of the security services, and engaged the security guards and responding security personnel in hours long firefight. On February 1, security personnel managed killed the last of the attackers and secured the hotel. Nine people, including the four attackers, were killed in the attack and 11 were wounded. At the time of the attack, high profile opposition members held a meeting at the hotel ahead of the now delayed February 8 elections.

A 26-year-old Navy sailor, Suraj Kumar Dubey, who was kidnapped in Chennai on January 30 succumbed to his injuries on February 5 while being transferred to a hospital in Mumbai after he was set on fire by his kidnappers in a jungle in the Palghar district of Maharashtra state. According to Palghar district police, Dubey who is from Ranchi, was kidnapped at around 9 pm by three armed men outside Chennai Airport while returning from vacation. His kidnappers contacted his family demanding a ransom of Rs 10 lakh. He was kept captive in Chennai for three days and later shifted to area near Vevji in Talasari area of Palghar district in Maharashtra state, close to Mumbai and 1,400 km away from the Tamil Nadu capital. On February 5, his kidnappes tied his hands and legs and set him on fire in jungles near Gholvad and fled leaving him for dead. Dubey managed to run away and with the help of some locals, reached Dahanu Primary Health Centre. As 90 % of his body had burns wounds, he was rushed to the naval hospital in Mumbai, but he died on the way. Before dying, he described the ordeal to police. (zeenews.india.com, 6 February 2021)

According to the now freed schoolboys who were kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, in Katsina State, stated that ransom was paid to the kidnappers before they were freed. Their statements contradict the federal government, which said that no ransom was paid and claimed that they boys’ release was facilitated by repentant bandits and pressure on their kidnappers by security forces. At least three of the boys stated that the kidnappers told them that they were initially paid N30 million (about US$76,000,) but decided not to release the boys because they had demanded N344 million, one million for each boy. The ransom payment was confirmed by a person familiar with the negotiations between the government and the kidnappers who said that a sizable sum was paid for the boys’ freedom and was transferred in three batches. The boys and the unnamed official support the claim made by the national spokesman of the Pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organization, Afenifere, who stated on December 18, that the organization had doubt that the federal government paid ransom in return for the boys’ release. The organization blamed President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the deteriorating security situation throughout the country. Afenifere claimed that government officials negotiated with the ethnic Fulani “Miyetti Allah” organization, calling it a terrorist organization. (thisdaylive.com, 24 December 2020 & guardian.ng, 19 December 2020)

A spokesman for the governor of Katsina, Abdul Labaran, announced the release of 344 schoolboys who were kidnapped from the Government Science secondary school (GSSS) boarding school on December 11. The spokesman stated that all the kids were in good health. However, other reports suggest some children are still remain in the hands of their captors. The attack was claimed by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which hours earlier released a second video showing some of the kidnapped boys and reportedly demanding ransom. Labaran said that the boys will be taken to the regional capital Katsina City and would soon be reunited with their families. Labaran Added that none of the kidnapped boys had been killed, contradicting a boy shown in the video who said some had been killed by Nigerian fighter jets. Many details surrounding the incident remain unclear, including who was responsible, why they kidnapped the boys, whether ransom was paid and how the release was secured. (bbc.com, 17 December 2020 & cbsnews.com)

In an audio tape, the leader of Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group, Abubakar Shekau, has claimed responsibility for the mass abduction of students in north-western Katsina state to “promote Islam and discourage un-Islamic practices.” Hundreds of gunmen overran the all-boys Government Science secondary school in the town of Kankara and took more than 300 students into surrounding forests. Though the attack bore the hallmarks of a Boko Haram (see Chibok mass kidnapping in 2014), there is doubt over the direct involvement of the militant group in the latest mass kidnapping as Shekau’s statement lacked detail, and officials in Katsina have already received ransom demands from a group of bandits that witnesses said were responsible. However, it is possible that the bandits may have transferred some or all of the kidnapped schoolboys to the extremists in return for money, weapons or other resources as there are close relations between armed criminals, traffickers and Islamist extremists across the entire Sahel region. If the kidnapping indeed was carried out by the Boko Haram, the attack marks an alarming expansion of the group to west Nigeria, nearly 800 Km/500 miles west of its stronghold in Borno state.  Kidnappings for ransom by bandits have become commonplace across much of the north-west in recent years, with frequent ambushes on roads, as well as fatal robberies targeting cattle and food. Towns close to forests stretching across north-west Nigeria and into Niger have been the most vulnerable to attacks. According to Amnesty International, 1,126 people were killed by bandits in Nigeria between January and June this year. (theguardian.com, 15 December 2020 & washingtonpost.com, 15 December 2020)

At least 16 students kidnapped by gunmen from a school in Katsina state escaped their kidnappers, a state government according to a spokesman for Katsina Governor Aminu Masari. At least 337 students were reported missing after gunmen attacked a boys’ boarding school in the town of Kankara. Unlike previous, reports, the spokesman stated that the government is not negotiating with the kidnappers. (bloomberg.com, 15 December 2020)

At around 9:40 p.m. a large group of unidentified gunmen on motorcycles attacked the Government Science secondary school, an all-boys boarding school, located in the Kankara district of the northwestern Katsina state. The gunmen traded fire with police officers guarding the school, wounding one of them. About 200 students who fled for safety during the assault have returned, but at least 333 of the 800 students remain missing. Police said they were working with the army and air force to determine how many students were missing or kidnapped, and to find them.  According to nearby residents,’ gunfire was heard from the school up until 11 p.m. local time. Following what appears as the largest mass kidnapping in the country, Katsina state Governor, Aminu Masari, ordered the immediate closure of all boarding school in the state. (reuters.com, 12 December 2020 & bbc.com, 12 December 2020)