At least 28 skulls of suspected kidnap victims have been recovered from outlaw forest hideouts in southeastern Nigeria, the African nation’s law enforcement authorities have reported.

Police found the skulls and other bones during raids on Saturday in the Umuaku and Nneato forests of Abia State. The suspects fled before officers could arrest them, police spokesperson Maureen Chinaka said.

“The criminal camps were subsequently dismantled. Investigation is ongoing, while monitoring of the area continues, and efforts are intensified to apprehend the fleeing suspects,” Chinaka said in a statement.

The remains were found during a weekend of mass abductions elsewhere in Africa’s most populous nation. Armed men seized at least 47 farmers harvesting peanuts in Niger State on Saturday, while about 40 women were kidnapped in neighboring Zamfara on Sunday, AFP reported, citing security reports and a local source. The Nigerian Army said it foiled two other abduction attempts in Zamfara on Sunday and rescued 10 people.

Nigeria has faced a security crisis for more than a decade, marked by kidnappings by jihadist groups and armed gangs. Boko Haram, its Islamic State-linked offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Ansaru have abducted civilians, while gangs locally known as bandits seize people for ransom, particularly in the northwest and north-central regions. Security consultancy SBM Intelligence recorded 7,825 people abducted nationwide between July 2025 and June 2026, a 66% rise on the previous year.

The police raids in Abia took place in Umunneochi district, where gunmen have targeted travelers and residents for years. The state government ordered more checkpoints and told people living in the forests to leave after the kidnapping of Methodist Church leader Samuel Kanu-Uche there in 2022.

A local archbishop described Umunneochi at the time as a “money making center for kidnappers.” 

The violence has continued despite a nationwide security emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu, the recruitment of more police personnel and forest guards, and increased security cooperation with the US.

Around 200 American troops were deployed to Nigeria in February to support counterterrorism operations. Most have since withdrawn, and Nigeria said the main force was expected to leave by the end of September, with a smaller advisory team remaining.

US Africa Command called the mission a success, saying a joint operation killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki and other senior Islamic State figures and disrupted the group’s wider network. Nigerian opposition politician Samuel Memeh disagreed, telling RT the deployment “has not yielded significant improvements” in security.