42 Women Abducted by Islamic Extremists in Nigeria Amid Ransom Demands

On a sober Wednesday, local reports revealed a chilling scene in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, where at least 42 women were forcibly taken by suspected Islamic extremist rebels.

The assault unfolded as the women, coming from a camp for internally displaced persons in the neighboring Mafa district, gathered firewood in the Jere district, notorious as the heart of a 14-year-old insurgency initiated by extremist group, Boko Haram.

A representative of the Civilian Joint Task Force local security group, known as Abba, informed officials of this unsettling development.

Facing economic hardships, these victims were said to have been earning their living by selling the gathered firewood.

The government caught wind of this terrifying incident through an acknowledgment by Kachalla Maidugu, a district government spokesman.

The situation, as Maidugu relayed, developed on Tuesday, but was only communicated late on Wednesday.

According to him, an initial count of 46 women were reported missing, but four were released, leaving 42 still in the clutches of the rebels.

Further adding to the horror of the situation, it emerged that the rebels demanded a staggering $55 ransom for each of the captive women, although local negotiations are underway to settle for a lesser amount.

In a striking timeline of events, this abduction took place mere hours following an ambush on security forces deployed to protect farmers in the vicinity, informed Abba.

Since its inception in 2009, Boko Haram, Nigeria's domestic jihadi rebels, have been battling to eradicate Western education and enforce the Islamic Shariah law.

The cost of this ideological warfare has been heavy, with at least 35,000 lives claimed and 2.1 million people ousted from their homes, per data from U.N. agencies in Nigeria.