At least 13 onion farmers have been kidnapped in the restive northeastern Nigeria, the latest bout of abductions rocking the country, a local government official said on Saturday.

Nigeria has recorded a wave of kidnappings in recent weeks, including the abduction of over 300 school children two weeks ago.

The spike in abductions saw President Bola Tinubu declare a security emergency – allowing for the recruitment of tens of thousands more police and military personnel.

Around midnight (2300 GMT) "unknown gunmen stormed Malari village ... and abducted fourteen onion farmers", Konduga local government chairman, Abba Abbari told AFP, adding one of the victims later escaped.

Ransom demanded

The farmers had stayed overnight in the fields to water crops and watch over cattle when they were seized.

Konduga local government area is located 35 kilometres from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Borno has frequently come under terrorist attacks since Boko Haram's uprising began in 2009.

While kidnappings for ransom by armed "bandit" gangs have been more concentrated in the northwest and central parts of Nigeria in recent years, a few cases have been reported lately in the northeast.

Head of the anti-terrorism group Civilian Joint Task Force in Konduga, Tijjani Ahmed, said the kidnappers had called demanding ransom.